Lord of Darkness
by Sonic Phantom
Summary: A forgotten evil that had said to have been sealed away has finally been reborn and wants to cover the world with darkness. But in order to do this, it needs not only the Chaos Emeralds, but something else as well. What could it be?
1. Darkness Rises, Part 1

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Sonic Characters © SEGA  
??? © Nintendo

Note: This takes place three months after the World Tennis Tournament.

Chapter One: Darkness Rises, Part One

Three months had passed since the World Tennis Tournament had ended. Zed Goodwin had used Kyla Vonstar in order to get the Chaos Emeralds and tried to to take over the world as Zythris, but with the combination of Sonic, Shadow, Silver, and Metal Sonic, they defeated Zed Goodwin and was now locked up behind bars, and Kyla had a change of heart as she became friends with our heroes.

* * *

**- Dusty Desert -**

The scene shifts towards the Dusty Desert. It was nighttime at the desert where everything seemed at peace. The wind blew calmly, the moon shined brightly, and everything was silent. No creatures were around and it looked like it was going to remain that way.

But the silence was soon broken. Up in the sky, there was a large bright figure coming into the distance. At first it looked like a large meteorite, but it soon came closer into view and from the looks of it, this was no meteor. It was something bigger than that. It was coming in at fast speed, and it was going faster by the second. And then, it crashed down on the sand. The impact caused a lot of sand to blow away from where the figure had crashed at.

Soon, the sand and smoke cleared itself, and we could see this figure at close range. It was a black cyber-robot like dragon of some sorts. It's tail was spineful and had a sharp end, it's body had some sort of orange and black center of it's chest, it's large wings were yellow and orange. The neck looked very mechanical and bent, and it's head had orange eyes as were it's teeth that looked very sharp.

The cyber-robot dragon looked around at it's surroundings, trying to figure out where it was and what this place is. The dragon was puzzled at it's new surroundings. It seemed similar to a place that it had seen before, but something about it seemed different to the dragon's eyes.

After a moment of exploring it's surroundings, the figure let out a roar towards the sky before flapping it's large wings. The figure took flight in the air as it went higher and higher until it stopped in mid-air. Then, the dragon flew across the desert, trying to get a clear idea of what this place had in store.

* * *

**- GUN Headquarters -**

The scene shifts towards the inside of GUN Headquarters. Everything looked normal here, too. The lights were out, but there were signs of GUN soldiers patrolling the place, just in case. It seemed very secure and it looked like no one was going to try and invade this place anytime soon.

We scan over here to see a couple of GUN soldiers talking to each other about something.

"So do you think there will be another invasion happening again like that Black Arms attack?" GUN soldier # 1 asked.

"Nah, not a chance." The second one replied. "Those black aliens were wiped out clean since their leader, Black Doom, was killed."

"Hmm..." The first one rubbed his chin. "You might be right. No one has tried to enter here ever since those invasions took over some months ago."

"And I bet you that no one has dared try to break in here, since. Besides we have a Chaos Emerald that we discovered a month ago. And there's no way anyone is getting in." The second pointed out.

Then suddenly, a new figure busted it's way from the vent door on the ceiling. The shadowy figure landed on the style hard on it's feet and this took the GUN soldiers by surprise.

"What was that?" The first one asked.

"I don't know. I can't see anything!" The second soldier replied as he looked around.

Then out of nowhere, a slice was made at the first GUN soldier, causing him to drop his gun and fall to the ground, dead. Blood was poured from his back while he laid there, dead.

"Huh?!" The second pointed his gun to see that the first soldier was already on the ground. He gasped in shock. "Man down! Man down! Call for reinforce-"

But before he could finish his sentence, the shadowy figure appeared in front of the soldier and sliced it's chest with a katana. Blood poured out from the soldier's chest as he fell on his back, where he laid there, dead as the other soldier.

The lights went on as more GUN soldiers came into view. Six of them appeared from the hallway as they had their weapons pointed at the figure.

"Freeze! Put down your weapon and get on the ground!" The GUN soldier ordered.

The figure turned it's masked head, which was designed with green and red spray paint on each side. On it's body, we could see it was equipped with a green mechanical-like suit. The masked figure only stared at the GUN soldier that called it out. We could not tell what it looked like from the inside, or what kind of creature it was. It didn't seemed frightened, so it walked towards the GUN soldier with it's katana in hand.

"I'm warning you! Do not move, or we will have to shoot you!" The GUN soldier shouted.

The masked figure didn't seem to listen. It just continued walking towards the GUN soldiers.

The GUN soldier had already lost it's patience. "All right, men! Fire!"

At the sounds of his command, the GUN soldiers fired a ray of bullets at the masked figure. The bullets connected with the figure. But to their surprise, it was simply bouncing off the mechanical figure. Each bullet turned out to be wasted until they stopped firing their guns.

"What the?! I-it's not working!" One of the soldiers cried out.

Before the GUN soldiers could fire another bullet, the figure jumped in mid-air and disappeared in a flash, electronic wise.

"Where did it go?!" Another soldier asked.

"Search the area!" The GUN soldier in charge ordered.

Doing what he said, the five GUN soldiers splitted up in different directions, trying to figure out where the the mysterious masked person disappeared too.

The one in charge didn't move from his position. He only watched to see if any of the other soldiers had found anything. While this happened, he heard something from behind him. He turned around to see what it was.

"Who's there?" The soldier demanded. Then his eyes widened.

The masked figure impaled the GUN soldier with it's katana, and shockingly, lifted him in the air with it's weapon. The soldier's eyes stared at the masked figure in horror.

"T-this thing...what...is it?" The solider asked very slowly.

The masked figure used it's legs to push the GUN soldier away from it's katana. The male human was thrown into the air, and while it was in mid-air, the figure jumped and kicked the man's stomach with full force, sending it flying across the room. The soldier crashed head-first against a wall, before falling to the ground, dead. Blood was splattered all over the floor and on the wall in where the soldier had crashed his head.

The other soldiers turned to see what had happened. Their eyes widened in shock at what they just saw.

"Oh no! He's dead, too!" One of them shouted.

"Come on, men! Let's kill this thing!" Another soldier shouted.

The GUN soldiers wasted no time in firing their bullets at the masked figure. Meanwhile, the figure ran to the nearest GUN soldiers and sliced at it's body. Blood had already started to pour out of the soldier's body as it already fell to the ground dead.

Another soldier that was the nearest to the masked figure widened it's eyes at what he was seeing. Just what was thing anyway? It definitely wasn't human, for sure, but what could this thing have been? Before it could get any answers, the masked figure gripped it's katana and jumped in the air again. Before the GUN soldier could retaliate, the figure sliced at it's neck. After that happened, the figure immediately fell to the ground, dead like the other soldiers. The blood had poured out of the already dead soldier's neck.

The masked figure turned to see the next two GUN soldiers standing next to each other as they hesitantly fired at the masked figure. However, the thing was, their aiming was way off, so they tried to fend themselves as hard as they could. But unfortunately, their efforts weren't enough. The masked figure camouflaged itself, which caused the two GUN soldiers to stop firing their guns.

"Where did it go now?" The first soldier asked.

"I don't know." The second one replied, looking around. "It couldn't have gone far."

And he was right, but he didn't notice it. A slicing sound was already made as it cut off the second soldier's right arm. The soldier screamed in pain until another slice was made at his back. The GUN soldier, then, slowly fell to the ground, dead, with blood pouring all out of his body. The first soldier turned to see this, and the only thing he got out of it was another slice made to his stomach. Then it was kicked in the damaged stomach. The soldier was sent flying against a wall before he made one last moan before dying, with more blood staining his clothes and covered more of the hard floor.

The masked figured looked around to see if there were any more GUN soldiers left. That's when it noticed one more soldier still in the presence. Locking onto it's target, the masked figure walked towards the soldier.

The one remaining GUN soldier was on his back as he quickly tried to move backwards with it's legs while keeping it's GUN locked on to the masked figure. Letting out a battle cry, he fired his gun at the figure with everything that he got. Bullets were impacting all over the place as the masked figure was getting closer to it's target.

Then suddenly, the GUN soldier heard a loud click from within his gun. It was out of bullets. He panicked as he tried to find more ammunition, but was too late when something kicked the gun out of his hands. He looked up to see what was in front of him. He gasped again.

The masked figure stood there with it's katana pointed at him. The soldier didn't make any move to resist except using his words to help him out of this situation.

"Please...don't kill me..." The GUN soldier pleaded with mercy.

The masked figure just stood there for a moment until it lowered it's weapon. And for the first time since breaking into GUN Headquarters, it spoke.

"You are nothing more than a pitiful weakling." The figure spoke with a cybernetic voice coming from it's mask. "Killing you or not would make no difference to me."

With that said, the masked figure walked in a different position down towards the hallway. The GUN soldier stood there for a moment as he watched the figure go away. In the GUN soldier's mind, he figured the masked figure was after something important. Determined not to let this go, the figure jumped up to his feet and charged after it with his fists at the ready.

The masked figure stopped and turned around to see the GUN soldier running towards it. As soon as the GUN soldier got within range of his fist, he swinged it at the masked figure's face. But before it could hit him, the masked figure grabbed the soldier's arm and twisted it, causing the GUN soldier to cry out in pain.

"You humans don't learn anything, do you?" The masked figure asked rhetorically before slicing the soldier's broken arm clean off. The soldier cried out in pain until the masked figure impaled the GUN soldier's stomach with it's katana. The figure, then, pulled it out causing the soldier to stumble backwards before falling on it's back, dead. And like with the other soldier's, blood poured out of his arm and stomach.

The masked figure lowered it's katana, which was also covered with blood. It then turned towards the hallway and made it's way down the hall. The walking continued until it reached a door. However, the door was locked with a security system that only had to been used by a scanner. The masked figure stared at the security system for moment before gripping it's katana. It then sliced the security system in half, destroying it in the process. The door immediately opened as them as the masked figure walked inside. In front of it, was what it was looking for.

There was a dark blue Chaos Emerald being protected by bulletproof glass, but there was more than one way to get past something like that. The masked figure jumped in the air and sliced the glass in two. The glass made a crack before dropping towards the ground, where it made a loud shatter. The figure walked towards the Chaos Emerald and grabbed it from it's pedestal.

"Mission Accomplished." The masked figure said, looking pleased. "The Chaos Emerald has been retrieved."

With that, the figure jumped in the air and disappeared into thin air.

* * *

**- Chaotix Detective Agency -**

The scene shifts towards the Chaotix Detective Agency. It was the next day, and everything here seemed to be the same. Espio was hanging next to a wall, Vector was chewing more bubble-gum while relaxing back in his recliner, and Charmy was switching through TV channels on the remote.

"Oh man, how come there's nothing good on?" Charmy whined as he kept switching channels.

"Exactly what are you trying to find, Charmy?" Espio asked.

"Something with lots of action and excitement!" Charmy exclaimed.

"I noticed that you've been doing this for over an hour now." Espio explained. "Don't you think you should just give up?"

"No way!" Charmy shook his head. "I know something good will be on. I just now it!"

"Hmm...I doubt that." Espio replied. "Vector, would you mind getting that remote off of Charmy?"

Vector had his eyes on the TV as well. Even he thought there had to have been something good on. "Relax, Espio. I'm sure something good will turn up. Right, Charmy?"

"Yeah!" Charmy replied with a laugh.

Espio sighed in hopelessness. "Kids and their toys."

Charmy continued to change channels until it revealed the news channel. This seemed to catch Charmy's eyes. "Guy, take look at this!"

Espio and Vector fixed their eyes on the TV screen as a female news reporter had a microphone in her hands.

_"This is Joanna Garcia reporting live at GUN Headquarters. A massacre was made here late last night when someone broke into GUN Headquarters and killed eight soldiers that were on duty. The figure wore a red and green mask and had some sort of strange suit on it's body that enabled the figure to appear and disappear very mysteriously. There was also a report by the GUN Commander that whoever broke into their headquarters also took the Chaos Emerald as well."_

Espio raised an eyebrow. "A Chaos Emerald?"

_"So far, no one has any clue as to who this masked figure was, but GUN is doing everything that it can to figure out this situation. We will have more updates for you later on if anything else comes up. Reporting live at GUN Headquarters, I'm Joanna Garcia. Back to you, Wayne."_

The screen switches to a male news reporter.

_"Thanks, Joanna. In other news, there was a large crater discovered at the Dusty Desert last night. We will show the images right now."_

The screen switches to the large crater that was made by that cybernetic dragon, even though the news reporter had no idea it was that.

_"Sources say that it was made by large meteorite, but it turned out to be false once you get a closer look at this."_

The screen goes into close range as we could see large feet marks and a few claw marks on the sides of the crater.

_"No one has any idea who or what made this but are giving out a huge reward to the first person that discovers it first. Can anyone figure out what made this? Until then, let's go over to the weather channel."_

Back with the Chaotix, they stayed in silence after listening to the news.

"Hmm...so someone broke into GUN Headquarters and took a Chaos Emerald." Espio said out loud. "I wonder who it could be?"

Vector, on the other hand, had a huge grin on his face and money signs in his eyes. "Boys, I think we have ourselves a new case."

"What do you mean, Vector?" Charmy asked.

"Didn't you hear, Charmy? They say that there's a huge reward out of all this, and if we can find the thing that caused the impact...then we'll be rich!" Vector said excitedly.

"Yeah! Rich!" Charmy said excitedly.

Espio wasn't sure about this. On one hand, he wasn't sure if trying to find something that made that crater was a good idea. On the other hand, getting that huge reward was something to look forward too. Before he could think of anything else, Vector got up from his seat.

"Boys! Let's head for the Dusty Desert!" Vector said with anticipation. "The Chaotix are back on the case!"

* * *

**A new strange turn of events have unfolded. What was that thing that caused the impact at the Dusty Desert? Who was that figure who broke into GUN Headquarters and took the Chaos Emerald? And what will the Chaotix discover in this new case? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**

**Note: This story will be put on hiatus until after I finish the World Tennis Tournament.**


	2. Darkness Rises, Part 2

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Chapter Two: Darkness Rises, Part 2

**- Tails Workshop -**

The scene shifts towards Tails Workshop in the Mystic Ruins. We could see it was a peaceful late morning as we could see a familiar blue blur dashing towards the door at high speed. The blue blur turned out to be our hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, obviously.

The blue hedgehog approached the door as he knocked on it a couple of times before waiting for a reply. When the door opened, it revealed to be Miles Tails Prower, Sonic's close friend.

"Hey there, Sonic!" Tails waved at him.

"Hey there, buddy! What's up?" Sonic greeted with a grin.

"I was just waiting for you to show up." Tails replied. "And it looks like you came here on time."

"Why?" Sonic wondered.

"Come inside." Tails gestured. "I'll show you what I mean."

Sonic shrugged before following Tails inside his workshop. Tails led Sonic into the living room and turned on the TV.

"What is it you need to show me?" Sonic asked.

"Just watch." Tails told him.

The two turned to the TV and watched as the news appeared itself on TV.

_"The events of last night are still a mystery, as someone broke into GUN Headquarters and killed eight GUN soldiers in order to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds. No one is for certain who was behind these killings, but GUN is stilll doing everything that they can in order to find out who did this and why. Until we get a clear view into the situation, we will now return you to your regularly scheduled programming."_

The TV screen was now showing a a soap opera as Sonic was in awe at this event.

"Pretty shocking, right?" Tails asked.

"Yeah." Sonic slowly nodded. "Who do you think could've done this?"

"I don't know." Tails replied with a small sigh. "I'm not exactly sure myself."

"What do you think we should do?" Sonic wondered.

That's when Tails' smile returned to his face. "I'm glad you asked! I was thinking that we could go over to GUN Headquarters and check out the situation ourselves. Up close and personal!" Tails said with a thumbs up.

"All right, then." Sonic smirked in return. "Should we head there now?"

Tails nodded in reply. "Of course. Head outside and wait for me to start up the Tornado II."

Sonic nodded again as he opened the door and dashed towards the garage. As Sonic was waiting inside, Tails headed towards the garage to start up his blue plane."

* * *

**- GUN Headquarters -**

The scene shifts towards the inside of GUN Headquarters. A lot of soldiers were on patrol around the crime scene that took place here last night. There was blood all over the place, but at least the corpses of the dead GUN soldiers were cleared out and buried.

There were three familiar figures watching the crime scene. They were watching some of the soldiers trying to clean up the blood. These figures were Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, and the GUN Commander.

"I still don't know how someone got past our security systems like this." The GUN Commander said.

"Your right. Getting here with without being detected is no easy feat." Rouge nodded in agreement.

"But they obviously did just that." Shadow replied. "And now, whoever has broken in, also took the Chaos Emerald."

The GUN Commander was angry to himself. Whoever broke into GUN Headquarters last night destroyed many of the security systems was going to pay for this dearly.

"Sir!" A GUN soldier called out.

The GUN Commander snapped out of his thoughts and turned to the GUN soldier standing at attention. "What is it?"

"Sir, Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles Tails Prower have arrived at GUN Headquarters." The GUN soldier stated. "What should I do?"

"Sonic and Tails?" The GUN soldier wondered. "Let them in."

"Yes sir!" The GUN soldier saluted before heading towards the door. He opened it, revealing it to be our two heroes of Sonic and Tails.

Our two heroes headed inside, as they looked around the place. They could see the mess that was made here last night by the unknown masked figure, as they soon approached the three members of GUN.

"Hello, Commander." Tails waved at him.

"Tails, Sonic." The GUN Commander nodded once. "It's good to see you. What brings you around here?"

"Tails wanted to check out what happened here last night at a closer view." Sonic replied. "When he told me things were bad, I didn't expect this to happen."

"Neither did we." Rouge replied. "Someone broke in here, destroyed our security systems, and took the Chaos Emerald."

"Where did this person broke in from?" Sonic questioned.

"Up there." Rouge pointed up at a ventilation shaft that lead to the outside of GUN Headquarters. "We're guessing that figure got passed the guards and made it's way in here by that ventilation shaft."

"Hmm..." Tails was thinking hard on who or what could've done this. "This is just a wild guess, but do you think it could've been Eve the Cat?"

"No way." Rouge shook her head. "I doubt even she could cause this kind of mess." She pointed out the blood that was poured out by the deceased GUN soldiers.

"There's more proof of that." Shadow added.

"Proof?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"The figure that broke in here last night moved at incredible speeds." Shadow answered. "The security cameras managed to catch it on tape."

"Can we see it?" Tails asked.

"That is classified information that only GUN possesses." The GUN Commander explained. "However, since you know us so well, we can make an extra tape only for you."

"OK." Tails nodded. "Thanks!"

The GUN Commander turned it's head at a nearby GUN soldier. "Make an extra tape of the evidence the security camera's captured last night."

"Yes sir!" The soldier replied before turning around and headed towards the central room.

When he was gone, Sonic turned to the mess that the masked figure made last night. "So whoever broke in made this mess?"

"Yes." Rouge nodded. "As you can see, we got a crafty one on our hands."

"What happened to the bodies?" Tails asked.

"The bodies have already been buried, but it's gonna take a very long time for this pool of blood to get cleaned up." Rouge answered.

Rouge was right. Blood was splattered all over the place. On the floor, on the walls, and some managed to get on the ceiling. The place was a mess.

As the three continued to look on at the crime scene another GUN soldier appeared at attention. "Commander! There's an emergency!"

The GUN Commander, along with our heroes, turned to hear this news. "What is it?"

"There's been a report that an attack on Station Square is going on right now!" The GUN soldier replied.

"What?!" Everyone's eyes widened.

"Do you know who's attacking?" The GUN Commander asked.

"We're not sure, sir. The figures seemed to be all dressed in black robes, but we have no idea who's leading them." The GUN soldier replied. "It's also been reported that these figures have the ability of dark magic."

"Dark magic?" Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure." The GUN soldier rubbed it's head. "We believe that the only ones who use that kind of magic are called druids."

"Druids?" Sonic rubbed his chin again. How much trouble could they be causing?

"W-what should I do, sir?" The GUN soldier asked.

"Send a squad down there to investigate this! And have E-123 Omega in charge of the squad!" The GUN Commander ordered.

"Yes sir!" The GUN soldier saluted before heading off.

"What should we do, Commander?" Rouge asked.

"Hmm..." The GUN Commander thought about this for a moment before turning to our heroes. "Sonic, Tails, can you get to Station Square?"

"Yes sir, Commander." Tails nodded. "I can get there by the Tornado II. Right, Sonic?"

"Of course." Sonic replied with a smirk.

"Good. Rouge and Shadow, I want you to go with them. Make sure how serious this attack is and report back when things calm down." The GUN Commander told them.

"Understood." Shadow replied, before turning to Rouge. "Let's get going."

"Right." Rouge nodded.

Shadow raised his arm in the air. _"Chaos Control!"_

Shouting those two words, a bright flash of light blinded our heroes for a moment until the light died down. When the light was gone, so was Shadow and Rouge.

Tails turned to Sonic. "We better hurry too, Sonic."

"Right." Sonic nodded, as he and Tails ran towards the door and made their way towards the Tornado II.

When they were gone, the GUN Commander turned back to the crime scene. While another strange event has occurred, his main focus was on whoever broke into GUN Headquarters last night. He was intent on bringing down this mysterious figure.

* * *

**- Station Square -**

The scene shifts towards Station Square. Where right now, the city was under attack by druids wearing dark robes. The Station Square Police were doing what they can, but it didn't really seem to be fazing the druids. These druids were using dark magic to dispel the bullets that were being fired towards them. Not only that, but they used their dark magic to take out the police without much trouble.

We see one figure in particular. It was wearing a forest-green hood over it's head. We could see it was wearing a stone necklace that was shaped like the moon. On it's body, it was wearing a light-colored robe like the druids, but not dark. We could also see it wearing shoes to where it's head shaped with a single swirl. And as for it's eyes, all we could see were bright yellow eyes. It was also carrying a scythe that had a dark aura surrounding it. The robed figure looked around as the druids were easily fighting off the police.

"So, it has begun..." The voice said with a smooth voice. "Now all we need to do is to find what we are looking for."

As the figure watched, a bright flash of light appeared. This stopped what the druids were doing and this caught the attention of the robed figure, as the light died down. When it did, we see our two familiar heroes of Shadow the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat.

The black hedgehog's eyes were already concentrated on the white-robed figure. "Who are you? Are the leader of these druids?"

The white-robed figure didn't seemed faze by Shadow's appearance. "You seem to catch on quick. Yes, I am the one leading these druids." The figure pulled down it's hood, revealing it's face. The figure turned out to be a brown tiger, and on it's forehead, we could see the shape of the moon-only it was upside down. "My name is Saladan. I am a mercenary, and I am known as the watcher of the moon."

"Well, whatever you are..." Rouge said. "You might want to consider surrendering."

Saladan chuckled lightly. "I am sorry. But as a mercenary, it is my job to carry out my mission."

"Mission?" Rouge raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. But I cannot reveal that information. It is highly secretive." Saladan answered.

"We'll see about that." Shadow said, as he skated towards Saladan at high speed.

Saladan tapped the handle of his scythe down once on the ground, as four druids quickly began to materialize in thin air. Shadow's eyes widened as the druids raised their arms forwards, creating a ball of dark fire in their hands before releasing it towards Shadow. The dark magic connected with the black hedgehog as Shadow was sent flying backwards on his back.

"Shadow!" Rouge shouted.

Shadow slowly managed to get back to his feet as the druids began to circle around him, blocking all signs of escape. Shadow looked around as the druids began to chant. Shadow wondered what the druids were chanting, but he didn't want to just stand here while getting ambushed. The druids created a large ball of dark energy above Shadow as they swinged their arms down. Shadow looked up to see the dark ball of energy coming down towards him. Thinking quickly, Shadow had an idea.

_"Chaos Control!"_

The managed to disappear within the nick of time, as the dark ball of energy made impact with the hard ground. The impact left a small crater on the ground, as Shadow reappeared out of the circle of druids.

By the time he made it out, Rouge was at his side. "Are you all right, Shadow?"

"I'm fine." Shadow replied, as he narrowed his eyes at the druids. "But these druids could be our main concern for now."

"Let me try something." Rogue said, as she flapped her wings and flew herself in the air. Once she was in position, she smirked.

_"Drill Kick!"_

Rouge flew towards a nearby druid as she spinned herself in a blur. Before the druid could react, Rouge made impact with it's stomach, as the druid was sent flying backwards until it disappeared in a puff of dark smoke. The white bat managed land on the ground, still having her smirk.

"Well, that didn't seem hard." Rouge said, proving her point.

Saladan smiled a little. "You seem to getting ahead of yourself."

Before Rouge could figure out what he meant, Saladan tapped the handle of his scythe on the ground once again, as two more druids materialized in thin air. Rouge's eyes widened.

"What the heck?" Rouge said, surprised at this turn of events.

"It doesn't matter if you defeat one druid. I can make more appear, thanks to my scythe." Saladan explained. "Perhaps over-estimating yourself will be your downfall."

Rouge gritted her teeth. She didn't think something like this could happen. "Shadow, I could use a little help here."

"You keep those druids at bay." Shadow told her. "I'm going after Saladan."

Rouge nodded her head, as Shadow skated towards Saladan at high speed. The brown tiger saw this coming as he gripped his scythe and swinged it horizontally, created a dark crest, as it flew towards Shadow. The black hedgehog saw this coming as he jumped over the dark crest as he continued to skate after the brown tiger. When he was close, Shadow jumped in the air and created created a wave of yellow energy in his hand.

_"Chaos Spear!"_

Shadow casted down a wave of yellow energy towards his target. Saladan defended himself with his scythe, as the yellow energy affected his scythe, paralyzing Saladan. The brown tiger looked up to see Shadow doing a homing attack. The attack connected with Saladan's body, as he staggered backwards a couple of steps before he managed to stop himself.

Shadow landed on his feet as Saladan managed to recover himself.

"Not bad." Saladan commented. "I can begin to understand why you are called the Ultimate Life Form."

"So are you going to give up?" Shadow questioned.

"No chance." Saladan shook his head. "I still need to finish my mission. And not even the Ultimate Life Form is going to stand in my way."

"Have it your way. But it's only to be a matter of time before your defeated." Shadow told him.

"Are you sure?" Saladan asked with a slight smile. "Why don't you try me?"

"With pleasure." Shadow said as he dashed back into battle.

Rouge grabbed out her bombs and threw them at a couple of druids, as they exploded on contact, sending them flying on their backs as they disappeared in a puff of dark smoke. Rouge looked over at another druid, whom was closing in on her. The druid created a dark orb in it's hands and casted it towards Rouge. The white bat quickly flew into the air again, as the dark orb made impact with the ground. Rouge got herself in position as she spinned herself around and did another drill kick to the druid's stomach, sending it flying backwards until it disappeared in a puff of dark smoke. Rouge looked around to see that Shadow was busy fighting Saladan. She was thinking about going over to help him, but before she could do that, she was attacked by an unknown dark orb. Rouge fell to the ground on her stomach, as two druids began closing in on her.

Rouge rubbed her head to see the druids about to attack her. She tried getting back up, but wasn't able to as the two druids created two balls of dark energy in their hands. Rouge thought to herself that she couldn't fight this off in time. Shadow couldn't help her because he was still fighting Saladan. Rouge was just about out of options.

"Look out below!" A voice shouted.

The two druids looked up to see a familiar blue plane riding down towards the ground at high speed. In the plane, we could see Tails piloting it, while Sonic got himself in position. When the plane was close, Sonic jumped from the Tornado II and spinned himself in a buzz-saw. The blue hedgehog spinned towards the druids at high speed. And before the druids could react, Sonic smashed into the first one, which caused to hit the other one, sending them both flying backwards until they disappeared in a puff of dark smoke.

Sonic landed upright on his feet as Tails landed on the ground with it's legs, seeing as how he transformed the Tornado into a walking machine.

"Need a hand?" Sonic asked with a smile.

"Good thing you guys showed up." Rouge said with a small relief, as she managed to get back to her feet. "For a moment, I thought you weren't gonna make it."

"Aw, come now." Sonic said sheepishly. "Why would you think that?"

Tails looked over to see Shadow fighting off the shady character known as Saladan. "Who's that Shadow's fighting?"

"Him?" Rouge pointed out. "That tiger is known as Saladan. He was the one who was leading the druids here."

"Do you know what he's after?" Sonic asked.

"Not sure. Maybe it's a Chaos Emerald, but I doubt that is the case." Rouge replied.

"What do you mean?" Tails asked.

"Before whoever broke into GUN Headquarters last night and took the Chaos Emerald, we found that there is no Chaos Emerald in the city." Rouge answered.

Sonic tilted his head. If there was no Chaos Emerald here, then what were these druids after?

Shadow and Saladan continued to fight each other, as Saladan swinged his scythe, hoping to cut Shadow. Unfortunately for him, Shadow jumped in the air to avoid the attack, as he Shadow tightened his fist and prepared to slam it across Saladan's face. Saladan narrowed his eyes as he stepped to the side as Shadow's fist slammed against the hard ground. Saladan countered by swinging his scythe again, thinking quickly, Shadow cart-wheeled to avoid the slice. The two glared at each other again, not taking their eyes off one another.

"Your power never seems to fail you." Saladan said, somewhat intrigued by this.

"As does yours." Shadow replied. "You may weild a weapon, but your magic is also powerful."

"So shall we call this a tie?" Saladan asked. "Because as much as I would love to finish our fight, I'm afraid I don't have all day."

"That's too bad. Because you've already lost." Shadow smirked a little.

Saladan was a little confused. What did Shadow mean by that? His answer was soon clear as a squad of 15 GUN soldiers appeared from the side of the street. And the one leading the squad, was the familiar E-Series robot known as E-123 Omega.

"Freeze! Surrender yourself, or we will have to use force!" One of the GUN soldiers ordered.

Saladan's eyes were focused on the GUN soldiers. It looked like they were ready to fire their weapons. As he looked on, a druid materialized in thin air next to the brown tiger.

"Did you find it?" Saladan asked.

The druid pulled out something from it's sleeve, revealing it to be a large light-blue shiny necklace. Saladan grinned at the sight of this.

"Ah, the necklace of ice. Just what we needed. Now there's no reason to stay here. Let's get going." Saladan said, as he turned around. His scythe began to glow in a dark aura again, as he swinged it vertically, creating a dark portal. The two quickly stepped through it, as the portal closed itself until it turned into nothingness.

The GUN soldiers were confused at what they just saw. What was that and where did they go?

"What the heck was that all about?" Sonic asked.

"I...don't know." Tails rubbed his chin. "They just left. Just like that."

"I'm betting they got what they already came for." Rouge thought. "But why did they take a necklace?"

As Sonic was thinking about this, Omega approached our heroes.

"Sonic. Tails. The Commander wanted me to give you something." Omega said.

Sonic and Tails looked as something began to appear from Omega's chest. It looked liked a video tape of some sort. Tails picked up the video tape as Omega's chest closed itself.

"This must be the video surveillance of the crime scene last night." Tails realized.

"Thanks Omega." Sonic said with a thumbs up.

"I am here to assist." Omega replied.

After Sonic thanked Omega, Shadow approached the blue hedgehog, in which, Sonic glanced at Shadow.

"Hey Shadow, what do you think that was all about?" Sonic asked.

"You mean about why that tiger left with a necklace? I don't know." Shadow wasn't sure.

As was with Sonic, because he had no clue as to why Saladan would come for a necklace. And was it worth all that trouble?

"Come on, Sonic!" Tails called to him from his plane. "Let's head back to my workshop. Maybe we can figure out who that person was that broke into GUN Headquarters last night."

Sonic replied back with a nod. He might have not understood about what just happened today, but maybe the answers would come from that surveillance tape. Sonic nodded once, as he headed towards the Blue Tornado II, in where Tails was waiting.

* * *

**A strange trace of druids appear and have managed to come for what they needed. But why did that come for just a necklace? Who is Saladan working for? And will Sonic and Tails discover anything new on the surveillance tape? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	3. Bounty Hunting

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Samus Aran © Nintendo

Chapter Three: Bounty Hunting

**- Dusty Desert -**

The scene shifts towards the Dusty Desert. Where last night, a large unknown cyber-robot dragon landed here. But where it went now, is still a mystery.

Up in the sky, we could see a bright twinkle appear. We move in closer to see that it was a spaceship of some sort. It was orange all around, had a shade of yellow on it as well, a large green window at it's front, and there were rockets on it's bottom that was guiding the ship towards it's destination. The ship was flying at high speeds until it suddenly started to slow down itself. The propellers on the bottom started to switch formations as it began to hover it's way down to the ground until it stopped at a few inches above the ground.

Once the ship stopped itself, we could see something popping out from the top. We could see that it was a new figure, which was the shape of a human, whom was also wearing an orange and yellow suit. It's shoulders were round like a sphere, it's boots had small boosters on the back of the heels, it's helmet was red and it's vision winder was green, like it's ship. But the most noticeable thing about this figure was it's cannon that was attached to it's right hand.

The figure jumped from it's position as it somersaulted in the air until it landed on it's feet. The figure looked around as it stood up. It could tell that that it was surrounded by a desert, which didn't really seem to faze the figure's face all that much. It continued to look around until it saw something on the ground. It was the claw marks and feet that made it's impact here last night. The figure got a closer look, trying to identify it's suspicions. The visor began to scan the claw marks and feet until it got a reading.

_Confirmations of Meta Ridley have been recorded here._

Yep. It was definitely here, all right. Now the question was; Where did it go to now?

The figure looked around again at the desert. It had to admit, it did seem a little interesting to it's eyes, but there was no time to go sight-seeing. The figure's visor began to show a different image. It looked like a map of the Dusty Desert, in which the figure would not have much trouble getting lost. As it looked on at it's map, there was something unusual appearing on the far side of the map. The reading began to show the location known as the Green Forest.

The figure looked in the direction in where the forest was coming from. Deciding to check it out, the figure in the orange suit made it's way towards it's destination.

* * *

**- Eggman's Base: Location: ??? -**

The scene shifts towards the inside of Dr. Eggman's base. We are in the control room right now, as we see the scientific genius sitting in a chair while looking at something on one of the screens. It looked to be like the surveillance video of the massacre that happened last night at GUN Headquarters. He had heard about it from the news just this morning.

A few feet away from him, we could see Decoe and Bocoe sitting on different seats. The two different colored robots watched Dr. Eggman looking at the surveillance video.

"Dr. Eggman has been watching the same screen for at least an hour and a half, now." Decoe noticed.

"Is it the video from the news?" Bocoe asked.

"Yeah." Decoe replied. "Ever since what happened last night at GUN, Dr. Eggman has been watching that same video over an over again. What do you think he's trying to find?"

"Perhaps he's trying to find out who that masked-figure was." Bocoe thought.

Bocoe was partly right. Dr. Eggman had just finished watching the surveillance video. But when it did end, Eggman replayed the video again. That masked figure had caught his interest, what with the way on how broke in, and how it killed those GUN soldiers like they were nothing. This figure may have been the answer to his plans on how to get rid of Sonic. But the problem was, Eggman had no idea where this figure came from. Even with a close up of the masked figure, he still had no clue.

"Why can't I figure this out?" Eggman asked himself. "That masked assailant is so much different compared to Sonic or Shadow. But how the heck do I even find this thing?"

* * *

**- Green Forest -**

The scene shifts towards the Green Forest, where we see the orange humanoid walking, while looking around at it's surroundings. It seemed different, compared to the other places it had been before. It could see frogs hopping around ponds, trees, streams, all the places you could see in a forest. It looked interesting to the humanoid, but it still wasn't convinced. Nothing about this place seemed unusual.

The orange suit figure continued walking through the forest until it came to a clearing. What the figure was seeing was a large base that consisted of robots patrolling the place. But the most noticeable thing about the base was that there was a large symbol of Dr. Eggman's face on it. From what the figure could tell, someone was running a base here, obviously.

The figure decided to continue walking. This continued, until a nearby by robot discovered the humanoid.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! notify Dr. Eggman immediately!" The robot shouted.

The figure's eyes widened inside it's helmet. Thinking quickly, the figure aimed it's arm cannon and blasted several shots at the robot, which caused itself to stagger backwards until it was destroyed. Once that was done, the figure nodded it's head once before quickly finding a way inside the base.

* * *

**- Eggman's Base: Location: Green Forest -**

Back inside the base, Dr. Eggman continued to watch the footage from GUN until his stomach growled. Eggman groaned a little. "I'm getting hungry. I can't think on an empty stomach."

That's when Decoe and Bocoe stood up from their seats.

"I'm glad you brought that up, Dr. Eggman." Decoe said. "We have a special cucumber and tomato sandwich on today's menu."

"Yes." Bocoe nodded. "With your permission, we shall have it ready in no time."

"Hmm..." Eggman hummed a bit. "That does sound promising..."

But before he could decide on that, the alarm sounded. Decoe and Bocoe's eyes widened.

"Oh no! The alarm has gone off!" Decoe exclaimed.

Eggman narrowed his eyes. "Check the monitors!"

Immediately replying, Decoe and Bocoe sat back in their seats and pressed some buttons, trying to find out where the source was coming from. That's when Decoe found it.

"Dr. Eggman! There's an intruder in the base!" Decoe notified.

"What?!" Dr. Eggman's eyes widened. We went over to where Decoe was looking at. "Where is it?"

"Right there!" Decoe pointed out.

Eggman looked at the monitor in where Decoe was pointing at. That's when he saw it.

The source cam from the orange suit figure, as it was quickly running through the base while shooting at robots that were in the way. Eggman growled a little.

"Doesn't GUN have anything better to do than to bother me?" Eggman asked rhetorically.

"Actually, Dr. Eggman, according to the monitors, this thing is not from GUN." Bocoe said.

"What? Then where is it from?" Dr. Eggman questioned.

"We don't know, sir." Bocoe replied. "But if we don't do something quickly, that person is going to destroy this base."

Eggman did not like the sound of that. But knowing the scientific genius, he always had a backup plan. "If this thing wants to play hard-ball, then we'll give it to him. Send in the Egg Sparks!"

"Yes sir!" Decoe and Bocoe replied at the same time, as they immediately called in for reinforcements.

While they were doing this, Eggman went back to his chair and pulled out a green Chaos Emerald from one of the machines. "If that thing makes it any further into the base, I'll have no choice but to send in the Egg Titan."

* * *

Back with the orange-suit humanoid, it continued to fire from it's arm cannon, as it was blasting any robots that were in it's way. These robots weren't very powerful, so it didn't really have a problem in taking out these robots. Two more appeared on the other side, as they had their robo guns in hands. The orange-suit humanoid turned to see this, as the robots fired their guns. The humanoid quickly jumped to the side to avoid the shots, as it returned the favor by firing shots from it's arm cannon. The yellow shots attacked the robot's face, as it staggered backward before falling to the ground. Before the other robot could do anything, the humanoid fired more yellow shots, as they all connected with the robot's face again. Like before, the robot staggered backwards until it fell on it's back, not moving.

The humanoid looked around as it saw a door in front of it's path. It looked around until it saw a control panel next to the door. The humanoid made it's way towards the panel and scanned it from it's visor. After a second of scanning, a reading popped up.

_Security door has been unlocked._

The humanoid nodded it's head once as the door opened. The humanoid made it's way inside the room as it looked around at it's new surroundings. Already, it was close to the middle of the base. Ever since entering, the figure didn't have much problem blasting any robots that were in it's path. The reason why it was here was because there was something here that was important. But what was it? Whatever it was, the humanoid would have to keep searching.

As it made's way down the base, a few robots dropped from the ceilings. The humanoid stopped to see these that these robots were in it's way. These robots were different this time. Their bodies were shape like cone, and it consisted of electrical energy that was surrounded by glass. It's eyes were blue, it's arm were bulk, and it's legs were thin. But despite this, these things could move. These robots were identified as the Egg Sparks, the robots that Dr. Eggman sent as reinforcements.

The humanoid decided to try and fire these things with it's arm cannon. The shots connected with the robots stomach, but all they did was bounce off. They obviously had no effect. The Egg Sparks countered by moving around as one of them held up it's arm, as a small red laser was aiming at the humanoids suit. When it took aim, the first Egg Spark fired electrical energy from it's stomach and flew straight towards the humanoid. Thinking quickly, the humanoid quickly jumped to the side, and was able to dodge the attack in time.

The humanoid wondered why it's shots from a little earlier had no effect on the Egg Spark. Deciding a to go strategic, the humanoid's visor began to scan the robot. When it was finished, another reading appeared.

_Enemy Identified: Egg Spark. Due to the glass surrounding the electrical energy, it cannot be destroyed by regular projectiles. The massive arms of the Egg Sparks help improve their aiming. Unless the arms are destroyed, their aiming will be useless._

So their arms were the weak points, eh? If that was the case, then the humanoid knew what to do. The humanoid jumped into action as it ran towards the Egg Spark. The Egg Spark raised it's arm again, trying to take aim on the humanoid.

That's when the humanoid made it's move. It aimed it's arm cannon at the Egg Spark's arm and fired a missile towards it's target. The missile made contact with the Egg Spark's arm, destroying it, as it was sent flying in the air before clanging to the ground. The Egg Spark's glass opened itself, as the robot itself was paralyzed. The humanoid narrowed it's eyes inside it's helmet, as it charged up energy from it's arm cannon and fired a large shot at the Egg Spark's chest. The Egg Spark began to malfunction before it blowing up in the process.

The humanoid nodded it's head, but then realized that there were three more Egg Sparks around. All of them had their arms raised, while the lasers from their arms were taking aim at it's target. The humanoid realized it's predicament, but quickly had an idea. The figure quickly rolled itself into a ball as the Egg Sparks fired electric energy towards it. The orange ball rolled away from the robots to avoid the attack. Then, the ball rolled towards the robots as it placed a light-bright bomb next to the three robots before rolling away. Before the Egg Sparks could react, the bomb exploded on contact, which did more than just destroy the arms. It destroyed the robots themselves.

The orange ball turned itself back into it's humanoid form, as the humanoid nodded once at it's work before continuing on down the base. This continued, until it came to another door. The humanoid looked around, until it saw another control panel. The humanoid scanned it with it's visor, until another reading appeared.

_Security door has been unlocked._

Once that was out of the way, the door opened itself again, as the humanoid walked inside. The room it walked into was bright and there was nothing else in here except clear walls and the place was spotless. Something didn't seem right. This had to have been some sort of trap.

The security door from behind the humanoid closed itself. The humanoid turned to see that the door had already closed itself. Then, something else opened itself up from the ground. The thing slowly moved up to the surface until it was clear at what we were seeing. It was a large light blue robot. It had massive arms, large legs, it had a large yellow core of some sorts. On it's face, there was a large grin, it's eyes were red, and inside the head was Dr. Eggman. The scientific genius wasn't all that pleased to see the humanoid in the orange suit.

"So, your the intruder that has trespassed in my base?" Dr. Eggman questioned.

The humanoid only stood there and watched as Eggman continued to speak.

"Listen, I don't know who you are, or why you are here. But you will not leave this place alive. And to prove it, I want you to say hello to one of my greatest creations: The Egg Titan!" Eggman laughed maniacally.

The humanoid narrowed it's eyes as the Egg Titan got itself into stance.

"Now, Egg Titan. Attack and destroy this intruder!" Dr. Eggman shouted.

The Egg Titan gripped it's mechanical fist, as it swinged it towards the humanoid. The humanoid quickly jumped to the side to avoid the punch. The impact of the punch caused itself to make a crater in it's place. The humanoid looked down at the crater, seeing the damage the Egg Titan caused. But it didn't have time to worry, because the Egg Titan was about to attack again.

The Egg Titan raised it's huge foot in the air and slammed it down, hoping to stomp the humanoid in it's place. The humanoid rolled itself into a ball and quickly rolled out of the way, just as soon as the foot stomped down on the ground, leaving another crater in it's place. Eggman watched as the ball turned itself back into the humanoid.

"Hmm..." Eggman hummed with interest. "So you can turn yourself into a ball? How interesting. The only one who could ever do that were either Sonic and Shadow. I guess I'll just have to keep a closer eye on you, if I want to destroy you."

The humanoid didn't take much notice, seeing as how it didn't really care about whatever Dr. Eggman had to say. The humanoid decided to counter back by firing yellow beam shots at the Egg Titan's chest. However, the attacks were able to bounce off, not doing any damage.

Eggman laughed at the sight of this. "You fool! Did you really think you could attack the core of the Egg Titan so easily? You'll have to do better than that in order to destroy my Egg Titan."

The humanoid narrowed it's eyes as the Egg Titan gripped it's mechanical fist again before throwing at the humanoid. The humanoid quickly ran to avoid the attack, in which was able to avoid the punch. But it wasn't done there. The Egg Titan gripped it's other mechanical fist before throwing it towards the humanoid. The humanoid quickly jumped backwards, and was able to avoid the second punch. When she did that, she decided to scan the Egg Titan with it's visor. When it was done scanning, a reading appeared.

_Enemy Identified: Egg Titan. This robot's strength is unquestionable powerful. It is more than capable than taking out walls within one punch or creating craters on the ground with it's body. It's core has been protected by an invisible barrier that can only be taken out by damaging the knees of the Egg Titan. Once it has lost it's balance, the barrier will be down._

So it's legs were it's protection. That was what the humanoid would go after next. But before it do that, the Egg Titan was able to slam it's fist at the stomach of the humanoid, sending flying backwards towards a wall. The humanoid groaned as the hand was clasped around it's body, unable to move.

Eggman laughed insanely. "Now do you begin to understand why I am the greatest scientific genius of all time? But perhaps you won't live to see that, once I'm through with you."

The humanoids eyes were focused on the knees of the Egg Titan, as it took aim with it's arm cannon. Once it got a lock, the humanoid fired a missile at the knee, causing an impact on the large robot. The Egg Titan lost it's part of it's balance, as the humanoid began to lock on to the other knee and fired another missile. The missile impacted against the knee, as the Egg Titan let go of it's grip of the humanoid and lost it's balance as it fell to it's knees. The humanoid now believed it would be a good time to end this robot once and for all.

Eggman's eyes widened for a moment but he quickly had a backup plan. "You may think you have me, but at least I still got this!"

That's when something opened at the shoulder of the Egg Titan. It took aim and fired a strange pink projectile at the humanoid. It made contact with the humanoid before falling to the ground. The humanoid looked down at it, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did.

Eggman growled in anger. "What?! How could it not work? I was so sure I tested it out during the prototype!"

Whatever it was, it looked like it didn't work. The humanoid shook it off as it began to take fire at the Egg Titan's core. The arm cannon began to charge itself as Eggman looked on with horror in his eyes.

"P-please, let's talk this out. I'm sure there's a way we can settle this..." Eggman said with a nervous chuckle.

Unfortunately for him, his plea didn't work. Once the humanoid was ready, it fired a bright glowing missile at the core of the Egg Titan. The bright missile made impact with the core, as the Egg Titan exploded on impact. The large robot fellt backwards on it's back until the smoke had cleared.

Once it was clear, the humanoid made it's way towards the fallen robot, as it could see Eggman lying on the ground, unconsious. The figure looked around on the ground, until it saw a shiny object, which turned out to be the green Chaos Emerald, next to him. The figure leaned forward and picked it up and examined it. The humanoid scanned it for any information, until it got a reading.

_Object Identified: Chaos Emerald. This is one of the seven jewels that has immense power. When all seven are together, they can create miracles that are beyond anyone's imagination._

The humanoid raised an eyebrow. Exactly what kind of miracles was it talking about? It figured that this was important information, so it gripped the Chaos Emerald in it's hand, and headed back in the other direction, finding it's way out of the base.

**_35 minutes later..._**

Dr. Eggman slowly opened his eyes, only to see two familiar robots. Decoe and Bocoe. They looked on as Dr. Eggman rubbed his head.

"Are you all right, Dr. Eggman?" Decoe asked.

"I...I think so." Eggman replied a little shakily.

"That's good to hear." Bocoe said with a sigh of relief. "We were really worried about you."

Eggman looked around, only to see that he was back in the control room of his base. "How long was I out?"

"You were out for a little over a half an hour, Dr. Eggman." Decoe answered.

Eggman was in his thoughts, trying to remember what had happened. Then his eyes widened. "Where's the Chaos Emerald?!"

"What?" Decoe was confused. "You mean you had it with you?"

"I was going to use it's power to destroy that intruder when I was ready, but it seems like that thing was able to destroy my Egg Titan, and..." That's when it dawned on him. "Oh no!"

"W-what is it Dr. Eggman?" Bocoe asked hesitantly.

"Don't tell me that thing took the Chaos Emerald?!" Eggman exclaimed.

"Uh...unfortunately it did." Decoe replied slowly.

"What?!" Eggman narrowed his eyes. "Why didn't you two do anything to stop it?!"

"We were more concerned about you, Dr. Eggman." Decoe replied.

"Yeah." Bocoe nodded. "We didn't want anything bad happen to you."

Eggman growled to himself. "Never mind that." Eggman turned the other way. "Whoever that thing was, it took my Chaos Emerald, and I'm sure it's long gone by now. I just wonder why it would come here?"

* * *

**- Dusty Desert -**

The humanoid was already at the desert as it was making it's way back to it's ship. While it was doing that, the humanoid took another look at the Chaos Emerald in it's hand. The scanner said that this jewel had immense power. But it also said that there were seven of these Emeralds. If they were joined together, then they would create miracles. It wondered if it would have the power to do something that was said that would said be impossible.

As it continued to make it's way across the sand, it suddenly stopped. It's eyes widened for a moment. Then suddenly, it's eyes started to close as it fell forwards, until it landed on the sandy ground, where it remained motionless. The Chaos Emerald in it's hand slipped out as it laid there on the ground, next to the unconscious humanoid.

* * *

A little over a mile away, we could see the Chaotix making their way towards the place where the large impact was made last night. They continued walking until Charmy saw something.

"There it is!" Charmy pointed out excitedly.

The three made their way towards the impact and got a closer look at it.

"Yep. This is the place in whatever caused this crater last night." Espio confirmed.

"All right., then!" Vector said with a grin. "Let's start searching for clues!"

"Yes sir!" Charmy saluted with a laugh as he buzzed off in a different direction, while Espio and Vector stayed to investigate the impact.

"So, what do you think made this, Espio?" Vector asked.

Espio concentrated hard, trying to figure out what could've done this. "Hard to say. It could be anything, to be honest."

"Hmm..." Vector hummed. Suddenly, an image came to his mind. "Say...do you think it could be a dinosaur?"

Espio shook his head. "Dinosaurs are extinct, Vector. Besides, if it was a dinosaur, you would think that it would've left footprints behind."

"Huh..." Vector rubbed his chin before laughing nervously. "I guess your right..."

Espio sighed to himself as he continued to examine the claw marks and feet. There was another point to prove that it wasn't a dinosaur. These foot marks were not even big as a regular sized dinosaur, and the claw marks looked very different compared to a dinosaur's claws. Espio could only wonder.

"Hey guys! Get over here! I found something!" Charmy's voice shouted.

Vector and Espio looked up and followed Charmy's voice. When they found him, Charmy pointed at what he had discovered.

"Guys, look here." Charmy pointed out.

The Chaotix looked to see the motionless form of the humanoid in the orange suit. And next to it, there was the green Chaos Emerald. Vector's eyes widened.

"You found a Chaos Emerald!" Vector said excitedly. "Good job, Charmy!"

"Aw...thanks." Charmy laughed a little.

Vector reached for the Chaos Emerald and grabbed it in his hand. As he looked at the Chaos Emerald with money sign in his eyes, Espio examined the downed orange humanoid as he was able to turn it around. He examined the helmet and saw that there was someone inside it, only unconscious.

"Is it alive, Espio?" Charmy asked.

Espio got a closer look at it. He could tell by the closed eyes and the shallowed breathing that it was alive. "Yes, it is. It's just sleeping."

"Sleeping? Out here in the desert?" Vector asked, like this person was crazy to sleep out here in the sun.

"Now why would anyone want to do that?" Charmy wondered.

"Hmm..." Espio hummed. "I'm not sure. But maybe it didn't have the intention of sleeping out here. Maybe someone must've caused this thing to sleep."

"Really?" Charmy asked.

"I don't know for sure, but that seems to be the most logical answer I can come up with." Espio replied.

Vector thought about something for a moment. That's when an idea popped into his mind. "I got it! Why don't we take it back with us?"

"Really, Vector?" Charmy asked.

"Of course, Charmy!" Vector replied with a grin. "We already got a Chaos Emerald and that person could possibly be a clue for us."

"Hmm..." Espio thought about this. "For once, you could be right."

"I know I'm right!" Vector said with a triumphant smirk. "Now give me a hand, Espio. We'll carry it together."

Espio nodded once as the purple chameleon picked up the person by it's legs, while Vector picked it up from under it's arms.

"Man..." Vector said with a little sweaty. "This person is kinda heavy."

"Good thing we decided to carry it together." Espio said, trying to keep it's grip on the legs.

"OK then. Let's go." Vector said, as he and Espio headed back with the orange humanoid that they were carrying over their heads. Charmy followed afterwards, as the Chaotix headed back to headquarters.

* * *

**More of weird this mystery deepens as the Chaotix managed to get a Chaos Emerald, along with the strange figure. Does this figure have anything to do with what caused the impact at the Dusty Desert? What will Eggman do, now that the Chaos Emerald is gone? And will the Chaotix be able to get anything out of their new clues? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	4. Treasure Necklace

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Chapter Four: Treasure Necklace

**- Rio Salaz -**

The scene shifts towards Rio Salaz. The Western ghost town that lied across from the Dusty Desert and was on the other side of Soleanna. Not much was known about this place, so that's why few people have heard of it.

We scan inside the Saloon, where we could see a few familiar figures from before. Larcen, whom was the dark blue hedgehog, with dark blue boots, green eyes, and white gloves. Samson, the black swallow that was behind the bar while cleaning a glass. And Marisa Harmon, the long-red haired female human whom wore a brown fingerless gloves, a red shirt, a black mini-skirt and a long black boot heels. Larcen and Marisa were sitting at a table as they were having themselves from lunch. Larcen was having steak sandwich, while Marisa relaxed herself while drinking some chocolate milk with her best friend.

"So Marisa, where's your Mom?" Larcen asked.

"Oh, she to out to Soleanna to get some food. I'm sure, though, that she should be back by now." Marisa thought.

"What do you mean?" Larcen wondered.

"Well, I know that Soleanna is on the other side of this place, but she has been gone for at least an hour and a half." Marisa replied. "I wonder what's taking her?"

Larcen shrugged. "I'm sure she'll be back soon. You just have to give her time."

Marisa nodded with a smile. "Your right. I'm sure she just stopped to get something else."

As Samson was busy cleaning another cup, he looked outside from his view to see the older female human making her way towards the Saloon, while carrying a couple of bags. "You might not have to wait anymore, senorita Marisa." The black swallow said. "Your Mom is already here."

Marisa's eyes flashed as she got up from her seat and checked to see her mother, Louise Harmon, the older sage who still had long chocolate brown hair, clears blue eyes whom was wearing her usual attire of a clear violet shirt that also came with a small green cape that was attached by a brooch, long black fingerless gloves, a black mini-skirt, and also black heel boots. Right now, Louise having a little trouble with the bags. Deciding to help out, Marisa went over to her and helped her Mom with the bags.

"Hey Mom." Marisa smiled. "I thought you might needed some help."

Louise smiled at her daughter's comment. "Thanks, Marisa. I'm glad to get these things out of my arms."

Marisa smiled a little, as she took one of the bags from Louise and carried them inside. Louise followed Marisa, while carrying the other bag. Once the two were inside, they both set the bags down on the bar table.

"Glad to see you back, senorita Louise." Samson greeted.

"Thank you for that, Samson." Louise nodded, as she turned to where Larcen was at. "Hello, Larcen."

"Hello." Larcen greeted back before he continued eating.

After the pleasantries were made, Marisa turned to Louise. "Mom, what took you so long?"

"Well, it's not easy getting everything all at once." Louise told her, as she pointed out the bags of food and drinks. "Although I admit, it did take me a little longer than usual, so I am sorry if I worried you."

Marisa only smiled. "Don't worry about it, Mom. I'm just glad your back. And don't worry, next time, I'll go with you."

Louise smiled back. "Thank you. I would like that very much."

Samson grinned at the stuff Louise got. "Shall I get stuff prepared for dinner later tonight?"

"Sure." Louise nodded at the black swallow, whom nodded back as he took a couple of cans of spaghetti and meatballs and immediately headed inside the kitchen.

"Is Kera still out there?" Marisa wondered.

"Yes." Louise nodded. "She's still out practicing with her sword. How long has she been out there?"

"A little after you left, I think." Marisa replied, not exactly sure when Kera started her training. "She's been out there for a while. Isn't she getting tired yet?"

"I doubt it." Larcen replied, as he was already finished with his sandwich and joined up with the two mages. "This is probably her way of relaxing. Think meditating, only without sitting in one place."

"Hmm...I guess your right." Marisa replied.

Outside the Saloon, we could see Kera the Hedgehog, whom was wearing her usual attire of a black Chinese-dress, black gloves, and brown boots. The purple hedgehog stood in silence as the wind, calmly, blew past her. She had her Dragon Sword in her hands as she swinged her sword around with grace. She had learned to use a sword, thanks to her father, Ganel, whom was a swordsman himself. The Dragon Sword she carried was a special sword that had the power of dragons. This sword was also used to awaken the legendary Black Dragon, AKA Helios, thanks to Black Doom and Mephiles, whom had also fused together with the demonic creature. But thanks to our heroes, they had managed to stop the dragon before it could take over all of the dimensions. Ever since then, Kera had taken special care of her sword, and would not allow it to be in the wrong hands again.

Kera slowly moved her sword in the air with her arm. Her eyes were still closed, as she concentrated on her training. She took a deep breath as she jumped in the air and did a straight back-flip, as she landed on the ground. When she did that, she swinged her sword at precarious moments, not letting a single moment go. She stopped, as she raised her sword in the air and opened her yellow eyes. Kera smiled, as she put the sword on her back, meaning that she was done with her training. She turned around, but when she did, she saw something that caught her eye.

Ahead of her, we could see a lone druid, wearing a dark robe. It looked like the other druids that attacked Station Square from earlier. Kera watched carefully, wiating for any signs of movement that would come from the druid.

Larcen and Marisa went outside to check up on Kera.

"Hey Kera!" Marisa waved.

Kera heard her, but she didn't reply back. Larcen noticed that she was staring at something else. The dark blue hedgehog turned to see the druid standing there, motionless. Marisa noticed what was going on, as she turned to see the druid as well.

"Who is that?" Marisa asked.

"I don't know." Larcen replied. "Kera, who is that?"

"I'm not sure." Kera replied. "It just showed up, the moment I turned around."

The three continued to watch the druid, until Louise showed up with Larcen and Marisa.

"What's going on?" Louise asked.

"Look." Larcen pointed out.

Louise turned to see the druid standing there. Her eyes narrowed at the dark figure. "A druid."

"Druid?" Marisa wondered. "Aren't they suppose to be living in the shadows?"

"Supposedly, they live in dark places." Louise corrected her. "But I wonder what this druid is doing here?"

Suddenly, the druid began to materialize itself, as five extra druids appeared in thin air, making a grand total of six. Our heroes eyes widened at this.

"What the heck?" Kera asked, a little surprised. "It just multiplied itself!"

The three heroes quickly joined with Kera, as the druids began to line themselves up into two groups of three. While that did this, Samson came outside.

"Senorita Louise, what should I..." He quickly stopped himself to see what was going on. He saw the six druids have already lined themselves up. They then they each took one step backwards as we see a new figure revealing itself.

This figure was a blue shark with a white belly. It had red eyes, it wore a dark blue bulletproof vest, green tattered boots, and carried some sort of long black sniper rifle on it's back. The shark grinned, showing it's shining sharp teeth.

"Allo, mates." The shark greeted with an Australian accent.

Larcen narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

"Me? Why, my name is Iriama. And as you can see, I'm here lookin' for something." The shark said with a smile.

"What sort of something?" Kera questioned.

"Uh..." Iriama rubbed his chin, trying to remember what he was here for. "Let me see here...I know I came for something..."

"You mean, you don't remember why your here?" Marisa asked.

"Now hold on, I trying to think. Give me a second here." Iriama hummed to himself. He looked up to see Larcen's necklace. And that's when it hit him. "Aha! I remember now! I'm here for that necklace!"

Larcen looked down at his necklace that was hanging around his neck. "My necklace? Why?"

Iriama shrugged. "I don't know."

"Wait, you mean you don't know why your after a necklace?" Kera asked, a little confused.

"U-uh...that's not the point!" Iriama fired at her. "I'm just here for the necklace, OK? Now go get it, you druids!"

The druids immediately moved into action as they created dark orbs in their hands.

"Dark magic!" Louise's eyes narrowed. "Marisa, are you ready?"

"Yes." Marisa nodded.

"We'll help too." Larcen replied, as he pulled his dagger out, and charged after one of the druids.

The druid that Larcen went after, quickly casted a dark orb at the dark blue hedgehog. Larcen's necklace glowed, as he dashed to the side to avoid the attack. The druid was about cast another dark orb, but Larcen quickly dashed forwards at incredible speed, as he made a small slice to the druid's robe, making a small hole in it's place. The druid turned around, but only to get smashed in the stomach by Larcen's fist, which sent the druid flying backwards, as it landed on his back before disappearing in a puff of dark smoke.

Over with Kera, the purple hedgehog narrowed her eyes as a druid casted a dark orb towards her. Kera retaliated by swinging her Dragon Sword, cutting the orb in half. Kera charged after the druid as she jumped and swinged her sword at the dark robe figure. The druid moved backwards to avoid getting cut, as it quickly created another orb and fired it at Kera. The crest on Kera's sword handle turned yellow, as Kera casted electricity from the blade, and straight at the dark orb. The two energy attacks connected, until they both exploded in sparks. Before the druid could react again, the crest turned red, as Kera's sword blasted fired at the druid. This caused the druid to be caught in flames while flying backwards, until it disappeared into a puff of dark smoke, much like before.

Samson the Swallow had joined in the battle a little afterwards, as he and another druid had a firing battle. Samson fired bullets from his pistols while the druid countered by blocking off the bullets with dark orbs. That was, until Samson ran out of bullets. The black swallow gritted it's teeth.

"Darn it! I'm out." Samson said to himself, as the druid countered back by casting another dark orb at the black swallow. This time, the dark orb got him, as Samson flew backwards until he landed on his back.

Samson was trying to get back to his feet, as the druid towered over him. That's when an idea came into his mind. "Amigo, there's something behind you!"

The druid turned around, having it's back turned away from Samson. That's when Samson made his move, as he jumped high in the air and began to spin himself.

_"Drill Beak!"_

Samson fired himself at high speed towards the druid. The druid turned around, but was too late, as Samson slammed head-first into the druid's stomach, sending it flying backwards until it disappeared in a puff of dark smoke.

"Oldest trick in the book." Samson shook his head with a smile. "It looks like it still works."

Marisa and Louise Harmon were being backed by the three remaining druids. They haven't attacked the druids yet, for some reason. But the reason for that, was because Louise had an idea. The two mages continued to walk backwards until they stopped.

"Now?" Marisa asked.

"Now." Louise nodded.

The two female mages raised their arms in the air, as wind energy formed from within their hands. The wind energy spinned itself in a turning cyclone, as it caught all three of the druids in the air. The druids were being spinned around in the air, until all three of them crashed together, making them disappear within dark smoke. The windy cyclones died down as soon as they were gone.

Marisa sighed in relief. "That was a close one."

"Yeah. Good thing our strategy worked." Louise said with a small smile.

Marisa nodded at that comment. Meanwhile, Iriama's mouth was in awe. All of the druids were gone, and he was the only one left.

"Oh bugger!" Iriama said disappointment. "My druids are gone!"

Larcen narrowed his eyes at him. "Now, are you going to give up and walk away?"

Iriama shook his head. "No way, mate! I can't give up now."

With that said, Iriama opened his mouth, as electric energy began to form itself. Our heroes were concerned about this.

"What's he doing?" Kera wondered.

"I don't know, but something tells me it's bad news." Louise said seriously.

"Gigas Spark!" Iriama shouted, as he fired a small dose of a spiky electric flash towards our heroes.

Our heroes stood in there position, as they prepared to dodge it. However, what they didn't see was that the electric ball stopped where it was. Our heroes looked confused, wondering why it stopped. Then suddenly, the spark dashed towards Larcen at high speed. It connected with Larcen's stomach, as he flew backwards until he landed on his back in pain.

"Larcen!" Marisa shouted in horror.

Kera narrowed her eyes, as she gripped her sword and stood in front of the downed Larcen. Iriama grinned again.

"What's this, now?" Iriama wondered. "Are ya trying to defend your friend, mate?"

"I am." Kera stated. "And your going to pay for what you just did." The purple hedgehog pointed her sword at him, as the crest of the Dragon Sword turned yellow. When the sword was fully charged, Kera fired her blade with electric energy towards Iriama.

The blue shark's eyes widened for a second, but he remained calm, as he had a backup plan of his own.

"Nice move, mate. But I'm afraid that this more will be even harsher." Iriama replied, as he opened his mouth again.

"Megadrive Cannon!"

Iriama created a large dose of blue electrical energy, until he blasted it towards the lightning based attack from Kera's sword. The large dose of electric energy passed through Kera's attack, as it made contact with Kera, sending her flying backwards at high speed, until she crashed into a wall.

"Oh no, Kera!" Louise shouted, as she ran over to her to check up on her, while Marisa went to check up on Larcen.

Marisa went to check on Larcen to see if he was all right. The dark blue hedgehog opened his eyes.

"Larcen, are you all right?" Marisa asked.

"Y-yeah." Larcen slowly replied. "But it's a little hard to move."

"Hold on." Marisa said to him. "I'll take care of you."

As Marisa was checking up on Larcen, Iriama came by and towered over them.

"All right, mates. Now hand over the necklace." Iriama said to them.

"No." Larcen simply replied.

Iriama's eyes widened. "What?"

"I said no." Larcen replied again. "I'm not giving it up to anybody. Especially you."

Iriama grew frustrated. "Aw, come on, mate! I just beat you. It's only fair that I get something out of it in return."

"Sorry, but you don't get anything out of it." Larcen smirked a little.

Iriama couldn't believe he was hearing this. He then sighed. "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to kill you for it."

"No!" Marisa shouted, as she blocked his way. "I won't let you harm my friend!"

"What?! Aw, please don't do this." Iriama rubbed his head before sighing again. "All right, I'll just kill you as well."

Larcen's eyes widened. "Marisa! Get out of the way!"

"No." Marisa shook her head. "I'm not going to let you get hurt even more."

Larcen watched in disbelief, as Iriama opened his mouth. Was this really going to happen.

"Bye, bye, mate." Iriama chuckled as he began to form up electricity from within his mouth.

Suddenly, a ball came flying towards Iriama, as it hit his nose with a hard impact. Iriama yelped in pain, as the electricity from him mouth disappeared.

"Ow! That hurt!" Iriama rubbed his nose as he looked down to see what had hit him. He spotted a green ball with white stripes, as the blue shark picked up the ball and examined it. "What's this bugger suppose to be? A ball?"

"A tennis ball, to be more precise." A voice corrected him.

"Huh?" Iriama turned around to see where that voice came from.

Marisa looked over to see who had said that. Her eyes widened at who she saw. "Hey, is that...?"

The figure at a few feet away was a familiar female human. The long light-blue hair, the light green eyes, the blue shirt, the blue shorts, the black tennis shoes, and the metal arm that was on her right arm. She carried a tennis racket that had the symbol of a star on the net. And the familiar Extreme Gear board that was blue and had white stars all over it, that the female human was riding on.

After Louise helped Kera to her feet, she recognized who the figure was. "Kyla!"

That's right. It was Kyla Vonstar. The winner of the World Tennis Tournament that she won several months back. Her eyes were narrowed at Iriama.

Iriama growled in anger at Kyla. "Hey! What's your problem, mate?! You could seriously hurt someone like that!"

"I know." Kyla replied. "But you were attacking my friends. And I don't like it when someone else hurts my friends."

Iriama was angry at the moment until he charged after her with his mouth widened open. Kyla saw this coming, as she quickly rode around Iriama with her board. The shark covered his eyes, as wind blew across his face.

"Oh bugger." Iriama replied, as he slowly opened his eyes, as he saw Kyla on the other side. "All right, mate. You want to play hard ball? I'll give it to ya!"

"Megadrive Cannon!"

Iriama opened his mouth as a large dose of electricity began to form together. When it was fully charged, he fired the blue electric energy at Kyla.

"Kyla, look out!" Marisa shouted.

Kyla stood her ground, as she raised her metal arm to defend herself. All of the electrical energy that was heading towards Kyla, was instead, being absorbed into her metal arm. Iriama's eyes widened at what he was seeing.

"What the? What happened?!" Iriama asked, not believing what he just saw. "How come my attack didn't work?!"

Kyla's metal arm was stored up with electric energy as she held it up. "My arm can absorb any energy that anyone tries to throw at me." A small smirk formed on her face. "It even holds a special surprise, just for you."

"Surprise?" Iriama wondered. "What kind of surprise?"

Kyla took out another ball, as she tossed it in the air and slammed it with her racket at high speed. The electricity was now being transferred over to the ball, as it rocketed towards Iriama at a fast rate. The blue shark's eyes widened in shock, as the electrical sized ball smashed Iriama in the stomach, as the shark was sent flying backwards at high speed. This continued, until Iriama landed on the ground while rolling around in pain before stopping.

Iriama slowly got back to his feet as he glared over at Kyla Vonstar, who returned the favor. "This ain't over, mate! I'll be back!" With that said, Iriama pulled out a mysterious object and slammed it on the ground, as dark smoke began to engulf his body. When the smoke cleared, Iriama was gone.

When he was gone, Larcen had managed to get back on his feet, while Marisa decided to greet her.

"Hey Kyla!" Marisa waved at her.

Kyla turned around as she smiled and waved back. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"Nothing really." Larcen shrugged. "I'm a little shaken up, but I'll be all right."

Louise, Kera, and Samson came by and greeted Kyla was well.

"Hello, Kyla. It's good to see you again." Louise smiled at her. "How've you been?"

"I'm doing good, thank you." Kyla replied back before changing the subject. "But what happened to you guys? And who was that shark?"

"Oh...you noticed." Louise said, a little down at what just happened. "Come with us and we'll discuss it."

"All right." Kyla nodded, as she and the others headed back inside the Saloon.

* * *

**A strange new figure appears and tried to take Larcen's necklace, but is saved, thanks to the returning Kyla Vonstar. But who was Iriama and who is he working for? Why did he try to take Larcen's necklace? And does this have anything to do with what happened in Station Square? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	5. Learning About Power

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Samus Aran © Nintendo

Chapter Five: Learning About Power

**- Rio Salaz -**

The scene shifts towards Rio Salaz. This was where an ambush happened not too long ago, when a new figure named Iriama appeared and tried to take Larcen's necklace for unknown reasons, but thanks to the help of Kyla Vonstar, she prevented it from happening, even though she had little understanding of what really happened her.

Inside the Saloon, we could see our five heroes, including Kyla, discussing about the events about what just happened.

"So these guys in dark robes attacked you?" Kyla asked.

"Yeah." Louise nodded. "We had no idea this would happen."

"Tell me about it." Kera said with her arms crossed. "I was the first one to notice it."

"They were going to attack us, but we managed to fight them off, thankfully." Marisa said, with a hint of relief in her voice.

"Good thing, too." Samson added with a nod.

"But what really concerned me was that shark. For some reason, he wanted to take Larcen's necklace, but he didn't know why." Louise said, in thought about what she remembered. "It was really strange."

"Hmm..." Marisa hummed to herself. "Do you think him and those druids may have been bandits?"

"I doubt it." Kera shook her head. "They didn't really seem interested in money."

"Then why?" Marisa asked herself.

"Who knows?" Samson shrugged. "Personally, this stuff about druids with dark magic and stealing necklaces makes no sense."

Louise closed her eyes while thinking about the situation. It didn't really seem to make any sense to her about why druids would come to a quiet ghost town like this, where only our heroes lived here, and no one else. She had heard of druids in the past, and how dangerous their dark magic can be.

Marisa noticed the look on her Mom's face. "Mom? Is something the matter?"

Louise opened her eyes and looked at her daughter. "No. Nothing's wrong. It's just..."

"Just what?" Kyla wondered.

"Those druids." Louise said. "It's not like them to appear in daylight."

"What do you mean?" Samson asked.

"Druids possess the power of dark magic and they only learn the ways of the dark arts, and sometimes, sacrifice. They always live in dark places, never coming out in the day, like bats or other creatures that hate the light. As a sage, I should know this." Louise explained. "I had heard that druids no longer existed anymore, but I guess I was wrong."

"So, why would they appear in daylight now?" Marisa wondered.

"Maybe it was because of that shark." Samson thought.

"I don't know about that." Kera replied. "That shark wasn't really a good leader to those druids."

"Your right." Louise nodded. "He's probably working for someone else."

Marisa agreed as well. She turned to Larcen, who hadn't said a word after that attack happened. "Larcen, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Larcen finally replied. "But I still wonder why he would my necklace."

"Is it special to you?" Kyla asked him.

"Yes." Larcen showed her his green necklace. "My mother gave this to me a little after she passed away. She said to me to always think of her whenever I this. She also said that this has special powers that will onl kick in whenever I'm in a fight."

Louise rubbed her chin in thought. "This might be a stretch, but do you think that shark knew about your necklace's powers?"

Larcen raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I don't know. If he did, then that would be a surprise."

Kyla examined the necklace closely. From the look in her eyes, it looked like something she had seen before. "That's strange."

"What is it, Kyla?" Marisa asked.

"That necklace. It looks similar to something that I have." Kyla replied.

Louise raised an eyebrow. "Something you have?"

Kyla nodded, as she pulled out something from her short pocket. The item was revealed to be a purple necklace. "This is what I'm talking about."

Larcen's eyes widened at that moment. "That necklace. It looks just like mine! Only it's a different color, though."

"I didn't notice it a first, but after getting a closer look at it, I realized that this necklace looked just like Larcen's own."

Louise had a concerned look on her face. "May I see that, Kyla?"

"Sure." Kyla replied, as she carefully handed the necklace over to Louise.

The older woman examined the necklace, looking at every piece on the jewelry. "Where did you get this?"

"I bought it at a Pawn Shop in Future City." Kyla answered. "After I helped my parents out, I decided to go out and do some shopping. So I went to a Pawn Shop, and I saw this beautiful necklace out on display." Kyla looked at her necklace again. "I didn't think that this necklace would look the same like Larcen's."

"If that other necklace also has powers, then there must be a reason for this." Kera said, but she wasn't sure.

"We may need to find someone who knows about this stuff more than we do." Louise thought. "Someone who knows about these necklaces."

That's when an idea struck into Kyla's head. "I got it!"

"You do?" Samson raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Kyla nodded. "I was at Soleanna earlier today, and someone asked me something about my necklace. I wasn't sure what it was about, since I wasn't a jewelry expert. But they said that there was someone at Soleanna who were experts on jewelry."

"Really?" Louise's eyes perked up.

"Mm-hm." Kyla nodded again. "And since we're talking about it, I was thinking that maybe we could all go together."

Marisa smiled at that idea. "Sure. I would love to go."

"That sounds like an idea to me." Louise smiled as well.

"I'll go, too." Kera added. "Maybe I'll find something useful there."

"What about you, Samson?" Larcen asked.

"No thanks, amigo." Samson shook his head. "I'll stay here and cook up a special dinner. I think you'll like it."

"Well, all right." Marisa said. "When do we leave?"

"We can go right now, if you want." Kyla suggested.

"Sure." Louise nodded. "Let's go."

Without wasting time, Louise, Larcen, Marisa, Kera, and Kyla got up from their seats and made their way outside the Saloon, leaving Samson by himself.

"Now then..." Samson said to himself, as he rubbed his hands together while a grin appeared on his face. "It's time to start cooking!"

* * *

**- Chaotix Detective Agency -**

The scene shifts towards the Chaotix Detective Agency, as we see Charmy buzzing around the room, Espio stood next to wall, staying silent as usual, while Vector was sitting in a chair. Next to them, was a bed, that consisted of the orange suit humanoid, whom was still sleeping.

"I wonder how long it will be before it wakes up?" Vector wondered.

"You have to give it time, Vector." Espio told him. "It will awaken itself, eventually."

"But we've been waiting for an hour." Vector groaned in complaint. He looked up to see Charmy buzzing himself around, being his usual self. "Stop doing that, Charmy! Buzzing around like that won't help."

Charmy stopped himself as he looked down at the green crocodile. "Aw, but Vector, I'm bored!"

"Then go do something else." Vector told him.

"Like what?" Charmy asked.

"Like go watch something good on TV." Vector replied.

"But there's nothing on!" Charmy replied.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Vector slapped his head, forgetting about earlier.

Espio continued to stay silent until he heard movement coming from the bed. "Guys, look."

Vector and Charmy heard what Espio said and looked at the bed. They could see the orange humanoid figure sitting itself up. The humanoid rubbed it's mask head for a moment until it turned it's head at Vector.

The leader of the Chaotix got up from his seat and smiled, as he moved in closer towards the humanoids face. "Hey there! How are you feeling?"

The humanoid immediately narrowed it's eyes inside it's mask, as it jumped up, and shoved Vector to a wall. The humanoid had it's arm cannon pointed at Vector's throat.

"W-wait!" Vector shouted. "D-don't shoot!"

"Peace!" Espio held out a a hand. "We are not here to harm you."

"Yeah. We're here to help you!" Charmy said with a smile.

The humanoid looked at each of the Chaotix. These things could talk, but then again, it didn't really surprise the humanoid. These guys didn't really look harmful, so slowly, it lowered it's arm cannon away from Vector, and slowly sat back down on the bed. Vector let out a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"That was close." Vector said with relief. "I thought for a moment I was done for." He then turned his attention back to the humanoid. "So, uh, we'd like to ask you something...sir."

The humanoid glared at Vector again, as it used it's arms to pull off it's mask, revealing it to be a woman, whom had straight blond hair and blue eyes. And from the expression on her face, she was not happy. "Did you just call me 'sir'?"

Vector's mouth was opened in shock. "Your a woman?!"

"Whoa!" Charmy was taken back this. "I didn't see that coming!"

"Me neither." Espio said, a little shocked as well.

"I-I'm sorry!" Vector apologized to her. "I didn't know!"

The female continued to glare at Vector before calming down. "So, where am I?"

Vector smiled again. "You are at the Chaotix Detective Agency!"

The female raised an eyebrow. "Detective Agency?"

"Yep!" Charmy appeared in front of her. "And we're the Chaotix!"

"Boys, it's time we introduce ourselves." Vector told them, as they each got into a different pose. "I'm Vector, the leader of the Chaotix."

"My name is Charmy!" The bee waved at her witha smile. "Pleased to meet you!"

"And I'm Espio." The purple chameleon introduced. "I'm quiet like a rock and swift as the wind."

"So, who are you?" Vector asked.

The female looked at them oddly before answering. "My name is Samus Aran. And I am bounty hunter."

Espio raised an eyebrow. "A bounty hunter?"

"Yes." Samus replied. "And I'm looking for something."

"Something? Like what?" Charmy asked.

"You wouldn't understand." Samus said to him. "It's pretty complicating."

Espio had an idea on what Samus meant by looking for something. He went over to the desk, and picked up a piece of paper, before joining bak with the others. "Is it because of this?"

Samus took the paper from Espio and looked at it. The paper showed the claw marks and feet that were made at the Dusty Desert. "Where did you get this?"

"We picked it up at the TV station in Station Square." Espio answered. "They said that they are giving out a reward to the person who can discover it's origins."

"Ah, so you must be here for the reward too, right?" Vector asked with dollar signs in his eyes.

"Uh...no." Samus replied slowly. "But I know what made this."

"You do?" Charmy asked.

"Yes." Samus paused for a moment. "Meta Ridley."

"Meta who?" Vector was confused.

"Meta Ridley." Samus replied. "That's what made these marks."

"Do you know what it looks like?" Espio questioned.

"If I had a picture with me, I would show you it, but since I don't have one, then no." Samus answered. "But I did find something else."

"What did you find?" Charmy asked.

Samus looked around. But she realized what had happened. "Shoot! I must have left it back at the desert!"

"You mean this?" Vector asked, as he pulled out a green Chaos Emerald. Samus' eyes widened.

"That's it!" Samus pointed. She went to grab it, but Vector pulled it away from her. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Give me that!"

"Sorry, but we know about this thing than you do." Vector told her. "Where did you get this?"

Samus was able to calm down again before continuing. "I found it. At some sort of base. It was filled with robots and there was one of them that was being controlled by some man with a large mustache."

The Chaotix's eyes widened at that moment. "Dr. Eggman!"

"Wait..." Samus raised an eyebrow. "You know this man?"

"More times than we could count." Vector moaned a little.

"He's a scientific genius who's rumored to have an IQ of 300. He loves to builds robots and wants to take over the world by building robots. It would be a place called Eggmanland." Espio explained.

"Sounds bad." Samus thought.

"That mean-old doctor." Charmy tightened his fists. "He just doesn't learn when to give up!"

"Have you guys encountered this man before?" Samus asked.

"No, but Sonic has." Vector answered.

"Sonic? Who's that?" Samus asked again.

Vector grinned. "Sonic is the fastest hedgehog in the world! And he's the one who's beaten Dr. Eggman so many times, even though Eggman always comes back for more."

"Sonic, eh?" Samus placed a hand on her chin. Perhaps there was more to this world than meets the eye.

"Listen Samus, you say that your searching for this Meta-Ridley." Espio said. "You probably can't find it on your own, and since we know more about this world than you do, we can work together and find this creature."

Samus wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not. Normally she would work alone, but Espio brought up a point. She had no knowledge of this world, and Meta Ridley could be anywhere at this point. After a long momentof thinking, she nodded her head. "OK. Let's work together."

Vector grinned again. "All right, then!' The green crocodile pulled out the Chaos Emerald again. "And with the help of this, we can possibly locate the remaining Chaos Emeralds too."

"Really?" Samus wondered.

"Oh sure!" Vector replied. "These emeralds attract to each other like magnets, so we'll be able to find these things in no time!"

"So what do we do now?" Charmy asked.

"Everyone, put your right hand in the middle." Vector told them, as he put out his arm.

Charmy did the same by putting his hand on top of Vector's, Espio did the same too by placing it on top of Charmy's., but Samus didn't. Vector looked at her.

"Come on, Samus. We can't do this without you." Vector said to her.

Samus sighed a little as she put out her arm and placed it next her hand on top of Espio's gloved hand.

"All right, guys." Vector began. "We all have a big case on our hands. So let's not waste anymore time. We got ourselves a Meta Ridley to find, and possibly the Chaos Emeralds!"

* * *

**Bonds are made, as Samus Aran joins the Chaotix to hunt down Meta Ridley and the Chaos Emeralds. How will this new bond co-exist together? Will they be able to find Meta Ridley? And what will Kyla and Larcen discover about their necklaces? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	6. Clash of the Ninjas

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Samus Aran © Nintendo

Chapter Six: Clash of the Ninjas

**- Tails Workshop -**

The scene shifts towards Tails Workshop located at the Mystic Ruins. After that battle against Saladan and his band of druids, the brown tiger was able to get a necklace from Station Square. But for what reason, our heroes didn't know. But before they left, Omega gave them the surveillance video of the massacre that happened last night at GUN Headquarters.

Inside the workshop, we could see Tails and Sonic in a lab room, as our two heroes were busy watching the surveillance video of the killings made by the mysterious masked figure.

"Man, Rouge was right." Sonic said. "This guys is a pretty crafty killer."

"I agree." Tails nodded. "The way it killed those GUN soldiers, while horrible to watch, was pretty creative."

"Are you sure your OK watching this?" Sonic asked, a little concerned. "I mean, if the blood is too much to take, then..."

"Don't worry about it, Sonic." Tails said with a smile. "I'll be fine. I've seen bad, yes, but I've also seen worse."

"True." Sonic nodded in agreement.

"OK then." Tails said, as he paid attention back to the screen of the surveillance video. "Now that we've seen the footage, I need to put it on my laptop screen."

"Why?" Sonic asked.

"Well, my laptop is able to get a more detailed look at the video. We can look at all of the angles of this masked person and see if we and figure out who it is." Tails replied.

"That sounds like a good idea." Sonic thought. "But how are you going to do it?"

"I need connect the wire from my laptop to my other computer." Tails showed his larger computer that was next to his laptop. "Once we do that, we'll be able to get a clear look at the surveillance video."

Sonic wasn't really following Tails, see as how the blue hedgehog wasn't exactly that big on machines. "Well, your the genius. You know what to do."

"Right." Tails nodded as he started to get to work.

Sonic just stood by and watched as his friend re-rerouting a couple of wires from his computer and laptop. While Tails was busy, a knock was heard on the door.

"I wonder who that could be?" Sonic wondered.

"Go check it for me, Sonic." Tails said, while continuing his work.

"Got it." Sonic replied as he headed towards the door. When he did, he opened it to see who it was. Sonic smiled at the person. "Hey there, Knuckles!"

That's right. Standing at the doorway was Knuckles the Echidna. Friend and rival of Sonic the Hedgehog. "Rouge gave me the head's up about what's been going on. I decided to join in and see if I could help out."

"Well, your just in time." Sonic told him. "Come in."

Stepping aside, Knuckles made his way inside while Sonic closed the door behind him. Knuckles raised an eyebrow at the working Tails. "What's he doing?"

"Oh, he's just trying to re-wire some stuff." Sonic replied with a shrug.

"What for?" Knuckles asked.

"It's this video tape we got from GUN." Sonic replied.

"GUN?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

"It's a surveillance tape." Tails answered, as he finished re-routing wires. "It shows what happened last night at GUN Headquarters."

Knuckles took an interest as Tails replayed the video again, this time, in a more detailed form. Knuckles could see the masked figure appearing out of nowhere and killing the GUN soldiers with it's sword. It surprised Knuckles to see that the masked figure was not taking any damage from the bullets, and it also surprised him as to how the GUN soldiers were all being killed like they were nothing. The tape ended as soon as the masked figure left the screen.

"Pretty shocking, right?" Tails asked, proving his point.

"Definitely." Knuckles nodded.

"It also took the Chaos Emerald that was being held by GUN." Sonic added.

"I already knew about that." Knuckles said. "Like I said, Rouge told me about these events. And she also told me about these druids and about how they went to the trouble of taking a necklace."

"But I still don't get it." Sonic said. "Why would they take a necklace?"

"I don't know." Knuckles shrugged. "But if they wanted the necklace, why go through all that trouble?"

"That's what I'm wondering." Sonic said, trying to think. "Maybe that necklace is special. In it's own way."

"Hmm..." Tails hummed to himself. "You could be right. But no one knows that for sure."

Sonic tapped his foot again. "Unless someone knows something about that necklace, then maybe we can get a good idea about what these druids are really after."

"You mean, like a jewelry expert?" Tails asked.

"Something like that, I guess." Sonic shrugged. "But the question is where?"

Knuckles thought about it for a moment. "Why don't we try Soleanna? I know that place is pretty fancy with jewels."

"Well, if you think so." Sonic said. "We can go right now, if you want."

"I'm in." Knuckles said.

"I'll stay behind." Tails told him.

"Really?" Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Tails nodded. "Mm-hm. I want to see if I can find any clue as to who this mysterious person is. You two go out and see if you can find any information about that necklace."

"Well, all right, then." Sonic shrugged before turning to Knuckles. "Are you ready, Knuckles?"

"Ready." Knuckles replied.

"OK then. We'll see you later, Tails!" Sonic waved at him.

"OK. See ya!" Tails waved back.

After Sonic and Knuckles waved good-bye, the two heroes left, leaving Tails to work on his own.

* * *

**- Dusty Desert -**

The scene shifts towards the Dusty Desert. Where we could see a familiar flying ship making it's landing near a temple. When it stopped, the top opened, revealing it to be Samus Aran, and the Chaotix. The female humanoid jumped in the air and landed on the ground, while the Chaotix simply climbed down to the ground.

"Aw, that was soo cool!" Charmy screamed while laughing. "Let's do it again!"

"This isn't a roller coaster Charmy!" Vector shouted. "We have a job to do!"

Charmy moaned, while Samus and Espio looked at the temple entrance.

"Is this the place where the Chaos Emerald is being held at?" Samus asked.

"I believe so." Espio answered. "According to the Chaos Emerald, there is powerful energy coming from the inside of this temple."

"I guess you were right about these emeralds. About how they can attract to each other like magnets." Samus said. "Now let's not waste anymore time." With that said, she walked inside the temple.

Vector and Charmy watched Samus, as she headed inside the temple.

"Boy, she doesn't waste anytime." Charmy thought.

"I bet that, deep down, she wants the reward just as badly as we do!" Vector said with flashy grin.

"Let's catch up with her. We don't want to be left behind." Espio said, as he made his way inside the temple.

"Wait up, Espio!" Vector shouted, as he went after him. Charmy soon followed afterwards.

When they made it inside the temple. Samus stopped, as she looked around at her surroundings. When she arrived here at the Dusty Desert earlier, she looked intrigued by it, but was too busy because she had a mission to carry out. And now that she was looking at the inside of this temple, it looked even more interesting, but she didn't want her face to show that look.

The Chaotix soon joined her as they looked around at the place, too.

"Wow, this is so cool!" Charmy said with excitement.

"I wonder where that Chaos Emerald is?" Vector wondered. "This place looks really big."

"Which is the reason why we came here together." Espio told him, as he looked around the place. "Now the real question is, where do we start looking?"

Samus looked at the path ahead of her. Ahead of her, she could see something that seemed out of place. "Look there."

The Chaotix looked in Samus' direction. The bounty hunter made her way towards what she was seeing. The Chaotix quickly followed her so that they would be left behind. When they made it to their destination, they stopped.

"What is it?" Charmy asked frantically.

"Quite down, Charmy!" Vector shouted at him. He then turned his attention at what Samus found. "Hmm...it looks like someone broke through here."

What the Chaotix were seeing was part of a broken wall that been shattered by something. However, no one knew who had broken through here.

"Really?" Charmy's eyes flashed. "Who was it?"

Espio and Samus looked at the cracked walls for any signs of clues as to what caused this. The purple chameleon found some scratch marks on the side of the walls.

"Well, whatever caused this must've left these marks behind." Espio pointed out.

"He's right." Samus said. "After scanning these scratch marks, it looks whoever did this used some type of blade."

"Hmm..." Vector hummed. "A blade, eh? I wonder who uses that type of weapon?"

"Do you think it could be Meta-Ridley?" Charmy thought.

"No way." Samus shook her head. "Meta Ridley is a lot bigger and would destroy this entire wall if it were him. That, plus he doesn't use a sword."

Vector gulped nervously at that thought. Just how dangerous was Meta Ridley, anyway?

"Let's keep going." Espio suggested. "The sooner we find the Chaos Emerald, the better."

Nodding at that idea, Samus, along with the Chaotix, made their way through the broken wall and headed deeper into the temple.

* * *

Our heroes continued to make their way down the temple. While they were doing this, Samus decided to look around at her surroundings. From what she could gather, this temple looked very different than what she originally thought. At first, she thought this would be another regular temple, but after getting a closer look at it, she seemed really intrigued by what it had to offer. Samus could only wonder what kind of secrets this temple was hiding.

"Hey Samus, what are you looking at?" Vector asked with a smile.

Samus turned to Vector. She seemed a little out at first, but she decided to answer, anyways. "I'm just looking at this temple."

"And? Find anything of interest?" Vector asked.

"Uh...no." Samus replied slowly.

"Oh, well don't worry about it." Vector said, as he relaxed his arms back behind his head while walking. "I'm sure you'll find something."

Samus shook her head a little and turned her head back down at the path. She wasn't really much of a talker, which was the reason why she didn't reply much.

Soon, our four heroes made their way down a room, which consisted of drawings of large dragons on the walls. This room had been discovered before, by another group of heroes that had investigated the temple months back.

"Cool!" Charmy said with smile. "Check it out, guys! These dragons look so awesome."

Vector, on the other hand, didn't seem to think that. The way the dragons were drawn kinda creeped him out. Samus and Espio weren't affected by this, however. Espio pulled out the Chaos Emerald from an unknown pocket as the Emerald glowed brightly.

"According to the Chaos Emerald, there is a strange source of large energy coming from this room." Espio said, as he looked around the room.

"Is it from a Chaos Emerald?" Vector asked with beaming eyes.

"It's possible, but..." For some reason, Espio could sense another strange presence in this room, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was.

Samus looked at the walls. She could see the dragons were drawn beautifully. They looked like real dragons. Whoever drew these dragons, must've been an expert or something. She walked over towards the drawings to get a closer look. Once she was close, she scanned the dragons. She then got a reading from her visor.

_The seven legendary dragons. When the lord of darkness was risen, the seven dragons banned together to fight off the dark demon. These seven dragons combined their elements of Fire, Water, Wind, Thunder, Ice, Light, and Darkness to banish the demon in order for peace to come once again. After the demon was destroyed, their energies were separated into the seven energy powered jewels, where they remain at rest to this day._

Seven jewels? Could this inscription be talking about the Chaos Emeralds?

'Hey Samus!" Vector greeted again with a smile. Espio and Charmy joined him. "Did you find anything?"

"Hm?" Samus looked back at Vector. There he was again, talking to her. "What is it?"

"Did you find anything interesting yet?" Vector asked again.

Samus wasn't sure if this inscription meant anything or not. "No. Nothing."

"Drat!" Vector clicked his fingers in disappointment. "Oh well, maybe next time."

"Are you sure we're at the right place?" Charmy asked. "I don't see any Chaos Emerald."

Espio was thinking the same thing. There was some powerful energy coming from this room of the temple, but no one could find it anywhere. However, that strange presence was still present. He didn't want to leave the place until he found out where the presence was coming from.

As everyone was lost in their thoughts, a loud smash was made from behind. Our heroes quickly turned around to see what made that noise. Their eyes widened at what they saw.

"Hey, isn't that..." Charmy raised an eyebrow.

"Eggman!" Vector narrowed his eyes.

That's right. In front of our heroes, was a large can-sized robot. The body was clear red with yellow stripes, it's legs and arms were thin. And it's face was round. with clear eyes and a smiling grin. And in the cockpit, we could see Dr. Eggman sitting in the middle, along with Decoe and Bocoe sitting in opposite chairs next to each other.

"Well, well, well..." Eggman chuckled. "We meet again, my orange friend."

Samus narrowed her eyes inside her helmet. "I have a name, you know."

"Oh, that's right!" Eggman said amusingly. "I completely forgot. Your name is Samus Aran; famous bounty hunter of the galaxy! Am I right?"

Samus was surprised. How did he know her name and who she was?

"Are you flabbergasted? Well, I was too. When you took my Chaos Emerald, that is." Eggman said.

"After you took the Chaos Emerald, we took a better look at your profile." Decoe explained.

"And as it turned out, you were a bounty hunter looking for something." Bocoe added.

"As to what your after, we believe it was the Chaos Emerald." Eggman thought. "But why do you need it, I wonder?"

Samus gritted her teeth. She was just about ready to blow Eggman out of his cockpit. That's when the Chaotix stood up for her.

"Remember us, Eggman?" Vector asked with his arms crossed.

Eggman looked down to see Vector, Espio, and Charmy looking up at him. "The Chaotix? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be taking any betters jobs right now?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Eggman. But the Chaotix always take a case, no matter who says what!" Vector told him.

"Yeah." Charmy added. "No matter what!"

"Surrender yourself, Doctor." Espio said. "Or else, we will destroy you!"

"Hmph." Eggman grunted. Obviously, he wasn't threatened by their words. "Don't waste your time. My goal now is to take the Chaos Emerald that you took from me. And to do that, I will need the assistance of the Egg Saw!"

The can-sized robot, now known as the Egg Saw, stood into stance, as the middle of it's body opened up, revealing a large buzz saw, ready to cut down our heroes.

"And now, you fools, prepared to be destroyed!" Eggman laughed maniacally.

But before the Egg Saw could move, a loud slicing sound was made to it's stomach. Eggman looked down to see where it came from. The buzz saw cracked a few times before breaking apart into pieces.

"No!" Eggman shouted in horror.

"What happened?!" Decoe asked.

"The buzz saw of the Egg Saw is broken!" Bocoe exclaimed.

And after the buzz saw was destroyed, another slicing sound was made to the stomach again. The Egg Saw was sparking for a few seconds until an explosion was made, causing the Egg Spark to be destroyed. However, Eggman, along with Decoe and Bocoe, were already in the Egg Mobile, as they hovered safely away from the explosion.

"The Egg Saw is...destroyed." Decoe said sadly.

"How could this have happened?" Bocoe asked.

Suddenly, something appeared in front of the destroyed robot. It was the masked figure, with red and green spray paint. The designs were roses shaped like a heart, and one green glowing eye was shining in the middle of it's mask. The green mechanical suit it was wearing was also recognizable, too. This was the same masked figure that broke into GUN Headquarters and took the Chaos Emerald last night.

The masked figure turned towards the Egg Mobile as it got into a fighting stance with it's sword.

Eggman growled angrily at this. "Let's get out of here. Now!"

With that stated, the Egg Mobile quickly flew off towards the exit, leaving the scene. The masked figure only watched, still in it's fighting stance, until Eggman, and his two robot assistants were gone.

Espio narrowed his eyes at the masked figure. "Who are you?!" He demanded.

The masked figure turned it's head to see the Chaotix, along with Samus getting into a fighting stance. It lowered it's weapon and spoke with it's cybernetic voice. "I'm like you. I'm also searching for something important."

"What do you mean?" Charmy asked.

The masked figure looked to see the Chaos Emerald was in Espio's possession. It looked surprised. "A Chaos Emerald!"

Espio narrowed his eyes. "What about it?"

"That is what I need." The masked figure stated. "And I'll do whatever it takes to take it."

Without warning, the masked figure raced towards Espio with it's katana at the ready. Espio immediately narrowed his eyes as he tossed the Emerald back to our heroes and raced after the masked figure, while pulling out a shuriken.

Charmy caught the Chaos Emerald in his hands, while the others watched Espio fight off the masked figure. "Who do you think that guy is?"

"Beats me." Vector shrugged. "But whoever that is, it must've been the one who made those scratch marks earlier."

"Your right." Samus nodded. "And that katana must've been what it used to break down that wall."

While one questioned was answered, Espio and the masked figure continued to clash each other with their weapons. Both of them were silent, not taking their eyes off one another. Then suddenly, the masked figure jumped in the air and disappeared in thin air.

"Where did it go?" Charmy wondered.

"It must've disappeared." Samus thought.

"But how is it doing that?" Vector asked.

"I don't know for sure..." Samus replied. "But I might have a good idea on what it might be."

Espio stayed silent and closed his eyes. It waited for any signs of the slightest movement on where the masked figure might be at this moment. If it was going to strike, Espio was going to be on his guard.

That's when the masked figure reappeared in the air, while behind Espio, as it prepared to strike down at it's opponent. Espio opened his eyes as he back-flipped backwards to avoid the strike. Thinking quickly, Espio ran towards the masked figure and kicked it in the stomach, sending the masked figure flying backwards for a short moment, but like with Espio, the masked figure used it's hands and feet to do a back flip until it landed back on it's feet. It gripped it's katana again, as it charged after Espio. The purple chameleon got into stance, as he prepared to counter any movement. When the masked figure was close, it suddenly, disappeared into thin air again.

"Huh?" Espio was slightly confused. Where did it go now?

Before Espio could do anything, the masked figure reappeared behind Espio and quickly striked the purple chameleon with it's foot, sending Espio flying forwards until he crashed to the ground.

"Espio!" Vector exclaimed.

Espio rubbed it's head a little as the masked figure stabbed the ground with the blade of the katana.

"Espio, look out!" Charmy shouted.

Espio quicky turned his head to see the masked figure using the hilt of it's sword to charge after Espio from the ground. Espio quickly up righted himself in time, just as the masked figure missed it's target. Espio jumped in the air and did a front flip as it pulled out his shuriken and pointed it near the face of the masked figure, while the masked figure did the same with it's katana, as it was pointed near the face of Espio.

The two stood there silently. Not moving an inch. Both looked determined and focused. It was as if time stood still. The two glared at each other for another moment until the masked figure slowly took a couple of steps backwards while lowering it's weapon.

"Your eyes." The masked figure said with it's cybernetic voice. "They seem intriging. It was as if you are focused on your mission."

"I would say the same to you." Espio said, as he lowered his weapon. "However, I don't know what your eyes look like."

The masked figure just stood there as it listened to Espio.

"Why do you need the Chaos Emeralds, anyway?" The purple chameleon asked. "You did take the one from GUN Headquarters last night. And you were after the one we got. Care to explain?"

"I don't have to explain my reasons to no one. They are extremely personal." The masked figure replied. "For now, you can keep that Emerald. But I will be back for it. We will meet again, friend."

With that, the masked figure turned around and jumped in the air, where it immediately disappeared into thin air.

When it was gone, Vector rubbed his head in confusion.

"What was that all about?" The green crocodile wondered.

"I don't know." Charmy shrugged. "But it was sure cool!"

Samus raised an eyebrow at Espio. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Espio said, as he turned to the others. "Let's get out of here. The energy here is gone."

Thinking that was a good idea, the Chaotix and Samus, headed back towards the exit. While they were walking Espio looked back at the destroyed robot. He remembered on how it was so easily destroyed by that masked figure. He wondered how anyone could do that with barely little effort? But the real thing that was on Espio's mind was that why that masked figure needed the Chaos Emerald? It was for personal reasons, but what they could be about? Whatever the reasons, Espio would surely meet the masked figure again. And he would be ready for it, too.

* * *

**- Unknown Location -**

The scene shifts towards an unknown location. The only thing we could see was that it was a dark place, where it was filled with druids that led up to a room. Inside the room, we could see a few shady figures. Saladan the Tiger and Iriama the Shark were the familiar ones. Another figure was a druid, but unlike the others, we could see it's face. It was male human, where it had short straight jet-black hair, red eyes, and had a calm smile on his face. Another figure was in the shadows, but we could not see who it was.

"So, you failed in retrieving the necklace, Iriama?" The male human druid asked.

"Hey, don't blame it on me, mate!" Iriama told him. "There was some female human who got in the way and played me like it was a game of tennis!"

"That doesn't matter." The male human said to him. "You still failed."

"B-but, mate..." Iriama was trying to find something to say.

"You really should've not underestimated those mortals." Saladan told him. "Had you brought more druids, you probably would have stood a chance."

"But then again, due to your weak leadership, you probably never stood a chance anyway." The male human said with a smile.

Iriama growled a little. He wanted another chance to go back to Rio Salaz and fix his mistakes.

"Do you want me to head to the town and take the necklace myself?" Saladan asked.

"No." The male human replied. "You have already retrieved one of the necklaces, so you deserve a good rest."

"Thank you, Xuan." Saladan said with a simple smile. "But I really don't need rest."

"That's all right." The male human, now identified as Xuan Iakuda reassured him. "Instead, I'm going to send her to do what Iriama couldn't do."

"Wait, you mean..." Iriama had an idea on who he was talking about.

Xuan turned to the mysterious figure that was in the shadows. "Would you go to the place where Iriama failed, and get the necklace for us?"

"Y-yes sir." The figure replied a little nervously.

"Don't feel nervous." Xuan said calmly. "You will be fine. If your still feeling hesitant, take as much time as you need. The master will wait patiently."

"O-OK." The figure nodded. "I'll be going now." The figure raised it's arms in the air and disappeared in a dark flash.

"Are you sure it was a good idea to send her, mate?" Iriama asked.

"Do not worry. Even though she always feels nervous, I know that she will get the job done." Xuan said with a grin. "All in due time."

* * *

**Darkness shows itself at last. Who are these guys and why do they need these necklaces? Why does this masked figure need the Chaos Emeralds? And who was it that Xuan sent to go after Larcen's necklace? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	7. Fashion Fever

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Chapter Seven: Fashion Fever

**- Soleanna -**

The scene shifts towards Soleanna; the city of water. Where the current ruler, Princess Elise the Third, would watch over her people from the castle that wasn't too far from where she was at. The people in town were doing their normal everyday routine. Whether it'd be walking around town, talking to other people, or just enjoying the nice day.

We scan in closer to see two familiar heroes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna. They were looking around, as if they were trying to find something.

"So, what exactly are we trying to find?" Sonic asked.

"Just keep your eye out for any jewelry place." Knuckles told him. "Something like that."

"OK, I guess..." Sonic shrugged. He still wasn't sure if there was an jewelry place in sight, but maybe that was because he wasn't really trying to look for it. Every time he passed a restaurant, he would always think of chilly dogs. He just wanted to relax and enjoy all of the chilly dogs he could eat. But seeing as he was here for a different reason, the chilly dogs would have to wait.

The two continued to search until Knuckles saw something in the distance. "Wait."

"Huh?" Sonic raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Look." Knuckles pointed out.

Sonic looked in the direction in where Knuckles was pointing at. What he could see was not a jewelry place, but something else. He could see five familiar figures looking around for something as well. They were Larcen the Hedgehog, Marisa Harmon, Kera the Hedgehog, Louise Harmon, and Kyla Vonstar.

"What are they doing here?" Sonic wondered.

"Beats me." Knuckles shrugged. "Why don't we go ask them?"

"Good idea." Sonic nodded as he and Knuckles made their way towards them.

Over with our other heroes, they were also searching for something as well. But so far, they could not find it.

"Do you remember where this place was?" Larcen asked.

"No." Kyla shook her head and sighed. "It's here in Soleanna, but where is it exactly, I don't know."

"It's all right, Kyla." Louise told her. "Even if you don't know where it is, we can always ask for directions."

Kyla smiled, knowing that was a good idea. "Your right. I'm sure there's someone here who knows where it is."

Marisa and Kera looked around as well. As they did this, Marisa saw something. Kera seemed to notice this.

"Did you find anything, Marisa?" Kera asked.

"Isn't that Sonic and Knuckles?" Marisa wondered.

Everyone looked in her direction to see Sonic and Knuckles approaching them.

"Hey guys!" Sonic waved at them.

The girls smiled as they waved back. Larcen just remained his usual self, as our two heroes met with the others.

"Hey, Sonic! Hey, Knuckles!" Kyla greeted.

"Nice to see you guys again." Sonic greeted back.

"You, as well." Louise replied back.

"What are you guys doing here?" Knuckles asked.

"We're actually here looking for something." Kera replied.

"Something?" Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"We're actually looking for someone who knows about these necklaces Larcen and Kyla have." Louise answered.

Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other. Could they be actually here for the same reason?

Knuckles looked back at our heroes. "Does this have anything to do with what happened at Station Square?"

Larcen raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"It's somewhat of a long story, to be honest." Sonic rubbed his head while grinning sheepishly.

"Why don't we talk along the way?" Knuckles suggested. "Perhaps you'll understand the situation better."

As they were walking, Sonic and Knuckles explained the situation about what happened at GUN Headquarters last night and about what happened earlier today at Station Square when a shady figure named Saladan came by with a pack of druids and attacked the city in order to find a light blue necklace.

"So these necklaces are more important than I thought." Kyla thought, as she looked at her necklace.

"Your right." Larcen said. "Even that shark was after my necklace."

"Wait, what?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, that's right!" Marisa remembered. "A little after Mom got back, there were druids that came by our town, but instead of a tiger, it was led by a shark named Iriama. He was close in taking Larcen's necklace, but luckily, Kyla showed up and prevented it from happening."

"Good thing, too." Kyla nodded. "If I wasn't there, you guys could've been seriously hurt."

"Yeah." Kera replied in agreement.

"So..." Sonic decided to change the subject. "Are we all going to the same place?"

"Yes." Louise nodded. "Kyla said that there was someone who lived here knows a lot about jewelry. But we're not exactly sure where it is. So I was thinking maybe we could go ask someone for directions."

"Sounds good." Sonic thought. "But who?"

As the group continued to walk, Knuckles noticed something very familiar. "Why don't we ask her?"

Sonic and the others wondered who he meant by that. They looked over to see a familiar figure. It was Princess Elise. She and the mayor were talking about something.

"Thank you, Miss Elise." The Mayor nodded.

"Your welcome, Mayor." Elise nodded back.

As soon as the Mayor left, Elise turned, only to see our heroes approaching her.

"Elise!" Sonic waved at her.

"Sonic! Knuckles!" Elise greeted back with a smile. "It's nice to see you two again."

"You too." Sonic said.

"Likewise, ma'am." Knuckles added.

Elise looked over to him to see our other heroes standing behind him. "Who are your friends?"

"You don't remember them?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

"No." Elise shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

"Well..." Sonic turned to the others. "Why don't you tell them your names?"

"I'm Larcen." The dark blue hedgehog simply greeted.

"Hello Princess." Marisa smiled. "I'm Marisa Harmon."

"My name is Louise Harmon." The older sage greeted. "I'm Marisa's mother."

"I'm Kera." The purple hedgehog greeted with a smile.

"And I'm Kyla Vonstar." The light-blue haired female human greeted. "I was the one who also won the World Tennis Tournament several months back."

Elise smiled at each of them. "I'm glad to meet you all."

"Say Princess, do you know where we can find a place that knows about jewelry?" Sonic asked.

"Well..." Elise was in thought about it for a moment. That's when it popped into her mind. "Oh, that's right! There is one place that I know that knows a lot about jewelry."

"Where is it?" Knuckles questioned.

Elise pointed at a direction. "There is a mansion down at the middle of Soleanna. Head there, and you'll be able to find it."

"All right, thanks!" Marisa nodded.

"Just one thing, though." Elise added.

"What is it?" Kera asked.

"Well..." Elise looked down at the ground for a moment. "The people in charge there are kind of strange."

"Strange?" Sonic wondered. How strange could these people be?

* * *

Our heroes, without Elise, made it to the middle of Soleanna, which was near the warehouse. The group continued walking until they found a large white mansion, which also was a store.

"So this is the place, eh?" Sonic wondered.

"It looks like it." Kyla thought.

"It looks kind of big." Knuckles added.

"Let's head inside." Marisa suggested.

Our heroes made their way towards the door and opened it. Inside, they could see it was a large white room, but there were displays of jewelry everywhere. From rings, to necklaces, to bracelets, all of that fancy stuff.

"Wow..." Marisa said in awe. "This place looks a lot bigger from the inside."

"No kidding." Kera agreed, as she looked around.

"I wonder where the owner is?" Louise wondered.

Her question was soon answered. Coming down a round of stairs was a large figure. It was a red tyrannosaurus Rex with orange eyes. All it had was a monocle above it's right eye. The dinosaur made it's way towards our heroes until it stopped. Our heroes seemed a little bit taken back by this, as the dinosaur got a closer look at our heroes. After moment of staring, it spoke.

"Welcome, my dear customers." The dinosaur greeted with a smile. "I am Yublein. And I am the co-owner of this place."

"Co-owner?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"Then who's the real owner?" Kyla asked.

"Darling!" A female voice called.

Our heroes looked to see a female human walking down the stairs. She had straight light pink hair, green eyes, red lipstick on her face, and glasses over her eyes. She also wore a silver dress, and white heels. When she came down the stairs, she noticed our heroes looking at her a little oddly.

"Oh my, customers!" She gasped. She then turned to him. "Darling, why didn't you tell me?"

"That just got here, dear." Yublein explained. "I was just about to tell you, but it looks like you had that same idea."

"Well, in that case." The owner smiled at our heroes. "Greetings, customers. My name is Alyson Sweet. I am the owner of this place."

"Uh...thanks." Sonic said slowly. "I'm Sonic, by the way."

"I'm Larcen." The dark blue hedgehog nodded once.

"Marisa." The red-haired smiled.

"My name is Kera." The purple hedgehog nodded as well.

"Louise." The older sage greeted gently.

"Kyla." The light-blue haired female human greeted.

"And I'm Knuckles." The red echidna greeted.

"Welcome, all of you." Alyson greeted back with a warm smile. "Is there anything we can help you with?"

"Actually, yes." Kyla said, as she and Larcen approached the two owners with their necklaces. "We wanted to see if you know anything about these necklaces."

Alyson and Yublein took the necklaces and examined them with their own eyes. They seem really interested about the details of these necklaces.

"Hmm..." Alyson hummed quietly. "It looks very delicate. And it's simply beautiful! Wouldn't you agree, darling?"

"I do, indeed, my dear." Yublein nodded in agreement. "These necklaces look very rare and there's even a bit of glitter here and there."

Alyson got a closer look at the necklace. Her eyes widened a little." Oh my, your right! I didn't even notice that."

"I do say, though..." Yublein rubbed his chin. "That necklace looks absolutely marvelous on you!"

"Yes. Yes, it does!" Alyson nodded happily.

The two laughed playfully at each other, while our heroes sweat-dropped.

"Do these guys always act like this?" Sonic whispered to Knuckles.

"Your asking the wrong person." Knuckles whispered back.

"Don't worry about them." A new voice said. "They always act like that."

Our heroes turned to see another figure sitting on a nice recliner chair. The figure was a grey pterodactyl. It's body was grey, with a shade of blue surrounding the lower body, and under it's wings were somewhat blue as well. Right now, it was currently drinking something with a small cup.

"Who are you suppose to be?" Kera wondered.

"Me?" The pterodactyl asked. "My name is Spade. I'm the one who's in charge of getting the jewelry for the customers." He lifted up his cup. "Would you like a cup of tea? It is a beverage warm and pleasant to the lips."

"No thanks." Louise shook her head. "We're OK."

Spade shrugged as he sipped down some more tea. "So what exactly is it you want to know about those necklaces?"

"Well, it's little hard to say." Marisa said. She wasn't exactly sure how to explain this situation to the dinosaur.

"I'll tell them, myself." Knuckles said.

Knuckles explained the events to Yublein, Spade, and Alyson about the events of what had been going on. Up from what happened last night to the stealing of necklaces and leading it back to these druids.

"Oh my..." Alyson said with a look of concern. "Sounds horrible."

"Your right." Louise added. "We don't know why these druids after these necklaces, but I imagine that they must be important to them."

"Hmm..." Yublein rubbed his chin. "Well, I don't know about these druids, but from the sound of it, this doesn't sound good at all."

"Why go through all that trouble just to take a few necklaces?" Spade asked.

"That's what we want to know." Larcen said. "Unless, we get a closer look at the situation, then there's no telling where these druids will strike next."

"Aha!" Alyson said with a bright smile.

"What is it?" Kyla asked.

"You are all in luck!" Alyson exclaimed. "We are having a dance party tomorrow night! We will also have a small competition, and the winner will get something extrodanary."

Louise raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Spade, go get the prize." Yublein told him.

"Right." Spade nodded, as he got up from his seat and headed over towards the desk. When he got there, Spade opened the drawer to reveal a red Chaos Emerald."

Our heroes eyes widened at this.

"A Chaos Emerald!" Sonic exclaimed.

"That's right." Spade nodded. "This Chaos Emerald is on the line. And if these druids do come after it, we'll know whether or not if we should be on our guard."

"And you are all invited as our special guests!" Alyson said with a smile.

"Sounds good, but what's the competition?" Sonic asked.

"Sorry, but our lips are sealed." Alyson told him. "The only thing we can tell you is that if you want to enter, you will have to bring a date."

"A...date?" Sonic wasn't liking where this was going.

"Mm-hm." Alyson nodded. "Trust me, I think this will solve your druid problem."

"And bring your necklaces, too." Yublein added. "If those druids are after your necklaces, then we will see it for ourselves."

Yublein and Alyson handed the necklaces back to Larcen and Kyla.

"So where is this dance party going to take place?" Kera asked.

"Over at the Soleanna Dance Parlor." Spade answered. "We're going to be there hosting it with the Princess."

"All right, then." Larcen nodded. "I think we'll leave now."

"Right." Alyson said. "Take care! We'll see tomorrow!"

* * *

Our heroes left the Jewelry store as they walked together while talking about the dance party.

"So is anyone going to bring a date?" Marisa asked.

"Don't look at me." Kyla said. "I'm single."

"As am I." Kera nodded.

"What about you, Sonic?" Louise asked. "Is there anyone you want to bring as your date?"

Sonic didn't answer her. Knuckles looked at the expression of the blue hedgehog's face. He had an idea of what Sonic was going through.

"Sonic?" Louise called. "Can you hear me?"

"Oh, he can hear you." Knuckles answered for him. "In fact, he already knows who he is going to bring."

Sonic sighed to himself he knew that there was only one person that would know about this. If he wanted to ask her, he would have to suck it up and get it over with.

* * *

**- Rio Salaz -**

The final scene shifts towards Rio Salaz. Over at the Saloon, we could see Samson preparing lunch for our heroes. At first, it seemed like too much for him, seeing as how he was all by himself, but he usually got the hang of it and is currently having fun with his work.

"Now, what I should make next?" Samson rubbed his chin. "Maybe I should start with desserts..."

While he was thinking about his meal choices, he heard someone approaching the Saloon. Samson turned his head to see who it was.

The figure was a female Lorikeet. It was a rainbow bird with a blue head, a green back, a red and yellow upper body it's lower body was blue, and it had red feet. It had orange eyes with a red beak, and it's hair tied up in a pony-tail. On it's body, it wore a short black dress, small black fingerless gloves, and black boots. The Lorikeet looked around inside the Saloon.

Samson raised an eyebrow with interest. "Can I help you, senorita?"

The Lorikeet turned to Samson. "Oh no. I'm just here to find a place to stay."

"Really?" Samson wondered. "Then come in."

The Lorikeet smiled, as she entered the Saloon. She looked around, only to see it was somewhat dusty, but still in stable condition. She went over to the stool bar and sat down.

"Greetings." Samson greeted with a grin. "My name is Samson. What's your name?"

"I'm Viola." The Lorikeet greeted back. "What are you doing?"

"I'm preparing lunch for my friends." Samson replied. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes." Viola nodded once. "After all of my travelling, I am already starved."

"Excellent." Samson said with a grin. "What can I get you?"

"Anything sounds good, really." Viola replied.

"Good. Then I shall prepare you my favorite meal. Spaghetti and Meatballs!" Samson said, as he quickly dashed into the kitchen to start it up.

Viola looked around the place. It looked like that black swallow was the only one here. At first, she thought coming here would be a bad idea, but after seeing that it was alive with someone else, she decided to stick around here. Maybe this would be a good place after all.

* * *

**A dance party has been announced by these strange jewelry experts. Who is Sonic going to bring as his date? Will this bring the attention of the druids? And who Viola and why is she hanging around Rio Salaz? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**

**

* * *

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**I would also like to mention that a friend of mine named Dark Maelstrom isn't really getting enough attention for his stories. I would like to let those who don't know him to check out his stories. They are excellent stories, and if you don't check them out, I will unleash Chaos Blast on all of you!!!**


	8. Troubled Minds

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Samus Aran © Nintendo

Chapter Eight: Troubled Minds

**- Unknown Location -**

The scene shifts towards the dark place from before. Inside the big room, we could see Iriama and Saladan talking with each other about something.

"So how do you think she's gonna do, mate?" Iriama asked.

"I have some doubts." Saladan replied with his arms crossed. "She might be able to pull it off, but for some reason, something tells me that this plan might go wrong."

"Why do you say that?" Iriama wondered.

"Sometimes, her nervousness gets in the way, and that could possibly be her downfall, if she is not careful." Saladan answered.

"I don't know about that, mate." Iriama said, as he relaxed his arms behind the back of his head. "I'm sure she knows what she's doing."

Saladan could only wonder if that was true or not.

As he was in his thoughts, the door opened in front of them, revealing it to be Xuan Iakuda. The tiger and the shark looked up to see him.

"Good evening to you, Xuan." Saladan greeted.

"A good evening to you as well." Xuan nodded with a smile.

"What was it the master wanted to speak with you about?" Iriama asked.

"He has some...doubts." Xuan said slowly.

"Doubts?" Iriama raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"It's about 'her'." Xuan replied. "He is concerned that she might betray us."

Saladan only smiled. "Just like I thought."

"Huh? Now wait a minute, mate." Iriama stopped him. "How come you think she will betray us?"

"It's not me. It's the master." Xuan told him. "If we don't retrieve the necklaces, then we risk being destroyed."

"What about the Chaos Emeralds?" Saladan questioned.

"That is what I am here to talk about right now." Xuan said. "As you know, we need the seven Chaos Emeralds in order to complete our goal. But in order to do that, the master needs someone to search for the Chaos Emeralds, obviously."

"You can send me, mate!" Iriama smiled with his hand raised in the air. "I'll gladly take it up!"

"I appreciate you wanting to participate, Iriama. But unfortunately, the master isn't thinking about you." Xuan answered with a smile.

"Oh bugger..." Iriama sighed in depression.

"It's not either of you two." Xuan said. "It's not me, either. And the reason for that is, I have to stay here and watch over the master."

"So who is it, then?" Iriama wondered.

"The master doesn't want help from the outside world." Xuan explained. "If word got out that someone from out there was helping us, then our cover would be blown. The master needs someone who doesn't have any knowledge of our mission and have them join us."

"So wait? You mean...someone from a different world?" Iriama asked. "Is it even possible?"

"Yes." Xuan nodded. "And the master has sent me to do the job of finding that certain someone."

"How long will you be gone?" Saladan questioned.

"I'm not certain." Xuan replied with his eyes closed. "But if I'm lucky, I should be able to return tomorrow night."

Iriama wasn't sure about this. Xuan was right about one thing, though. They couldn't recruit anybody from the outside world, mainly because someone would see it and their cover would be out of the bag. But exactly who was it that master had in mind that would help us?

"Before I go, I have word about the next necklace." Xuan said with a smile.

"Which one is it?" Saladan asked.

"The necklace of Thunder." Xuan replied smoothly. "It is located at Wild Canyon. You both will journey there and retrieve the necklace."

"Got ya, mate!" Iriama said with a grin.

"But why send both of us?" Saladan questioned, a little puzzled.

"From what I hear, the Wild Canyon is filled with traps. I want you, Saladan, to take the necklace of Ice. I have a feeling that it will come in handy, once you get there." Xuan told him.

"Very well." Saladan nodded.

Xuan came towards Saladan and gave him the light blue necklace, in which the brown tiger took it in acception. Once the druid did that, he made his way back towards the larger door.

"I have to get going now." Xuan said. "I will be back."

The male human druid created a large dark circle of energy with his hands. It took a moment or two, but when it was ready, Xuan stepped inside the portal, which caused it to disappear, along with Xuan.

Once he was gone, Saladan and Iriama looked at each other.

"So shall we get going, mate?" The blue shark asked.

"Yes." Saladan nodded, as he grabbed his scythe. "Follow me."

A dark ray of energy surrounded the sharp blade of the scythe, as Saladan swinged it vertically, creating a dark portal. When it was open, Saladan and Iriama stepped inside. When they did that, the portal disappeared.

* * *

**- Rio Salaz -**

The scene shifts towards Rio Salaz. Inside the Saloon, we see the two birds having a couple of drinks while talking with each other.

"So where are you from, senorita Viola?" Samson asked.

"Um..." Viola was trying to think up an answer. "I'm from...Westopolis."

"Westopolis?" Samson raised an eyebrow. "That must've been a long ways from here."

"It is." Viola nodded. "But I don't mind it. I always loved traveling ever since I was little."

""Really?" Samson wondered.

"Yes." Viola nodded. "I moved from Westopolis, so I could get away from the city. There are just too many people crowding around these days." She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"I hear ya." Samson agreed as he took another drink of soda from his cup.

"So Samson..." Viola paused for a moment. "You say you had friends who lived here, didn't you?"

"That's right." Samson nodded. "They're at Soleanna at the moment."

"What for?" Viola wondered.

"They went over to a Jewelry store to get their necklaces checked." Samson answered.

Viola raised an eyebrow. "Necklaces?"

"Yeah. Earlier, there was a pack of druids that came by here and attacked us. They were after Larcen's necklace for some reason. Luckily, we were able to fight them off." Samson replied with small sigh of relief.

Viola was in thought. These necklaces...could they be the ones?

"Hey! We're back!" A voice shouted.

Samson and Viola turned to see where the voice came from. Approaching the Saloon were our familiar heroes of Louise, Marisa, Larcen, Kera, and Kyla. Marisa opened the side-winder doors.

"Welcome back, amigos." Samson greeted with a nod.

As our heroes entered the place, Larcen raised an eyebrow at the female bird. "Who is that?"

The female Lorikeet smiled and introduced herself. "Hello. I am Viola. Pleased to meet you."

Louise smiled and did the same thing. "Hello, Viola. I am Louise Harmon." She turned to Marisa. "That is my daughter, Marisa Harmon."

"Hello." Marisa waved at Viola.

"I'm Kera." The purple hedgehog nodded once. "It's good to meet you."

"And I'm Kyla Vonstar." The light-blue haired female human introduced herself.

"It's nice to meet you all." Viola nodded at each one of them. She looked over at Larcen, whom hadn't said a word. "What about you? What's your name?"

"I'm...Larcen." The dark blue hedgehog slowly replied.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Larcen." Viola smiled. She looked down at his necklace, which took an interest in Viola's eyes. "That's a beautiful necklace you got there."

"Uh, thanks." Larcen replied a little uneasily. For some reason, he wasn't feeling too comfortable around Viola.

"Why don't you guys relax?" Samson suggested. "Dinner will be ready in an hour."

"Sure." Marisa nodded. "In the meantime, we can get to know a little bit more about you, Viola."

"Thanks." Viola smiled. "I'm anxious to get you guys a little better, too."

Most of our heroes sat themselves down on some stools, but Larcen didn't. As they began talking, Larcen narrowed his eyes at the Lorikeet. He felt like there was something not right about this girl. She seemed like nice person, but he didn't that way. So in the meantime, he just kept his distance from her by sitting next to Marisa, while keeping a close eye on the new guest.

* * *

**- Samus' ship -**

The scene shifts towards the inside of Samus' ship. The ship was flying in the sky, but since it was set to auto-pilot, it wasn't really gonna go anywhere.

Inside, we could see Samus and Espio at the controls, while Charmy and Vector were enjoying a snack that they found from the refrigerator in Samus' ship.

"Oh boy, this stuff tastes good!" Charmy smiled, as he took a bit of his sandwich.

"Yeah." Vector nodded as took a sip of his soda. "Hey Samus, thanks for the snacks."

"No problem." Samus replied, while continuing to work.

"So, what are you guys looking for?" Charmy asked.

"We're looking up information on that masked person we met back at the Dusty Desert." Espio answered.

"While Espio was fighting that masked person, I was able to get a scan of it's information." Samus said. "And what the information I found seemed to be interesting."

"What is it?" Vector wondered.

"That suit." Samus said. "The suit it was wearing is made up of something called Exoskeleton."

"Exo-what?" Charmy was confused.

"Exoskeleton." Samus replied again. "It contains rigid and resistant components that have many abilities like protection, excretion, sensing, support, feeding, and it even acts as a barrier. It also grows in stealth, speed, strength, and hardness. Which basically explains about the barrier I mentioned a second ago."

"So are we, like, dealing with a ninja or something?" Vector asked.

"Maybe." Espio answered. "But there's no information on whether or not the person itself is a ninja or not."

"But it moved like a ninja." Charmy pointed out. "It can even disappear like one, too!"

"True. But we can't be for sure until we get more information about this person." Samus replied.

"So we still have no idea who this person is or why it needs the Chaos Emerald?" Vector wondered as he rubbed his chin. "Well that's just great."

As they were thinking about this masked person, the Chaos Emerald from the control panels glowed brightly. Samus and the Chaotix turned to see this.

"That Chaos Emerald!" Charmy said excitedly. "It's glowing!"

"Does that mean there's a Chaos Emerald nearby?" Vector asked.

"There should be." Espio thought. "According to the energy, it's coming from the Wild Canyon."

"Then let's follow it's source and check it out." Samus suggested.

Thinking that was a good idea, Samus turned the ship in the direction in where the energy was coming from.

* * *

**- Unknown Location -**

The final scene shifts towards another unknown location. We couldn't tell where we were from the outside, but all we could see on the inside was a dark place. It looked like a large house of some sorts that looked very well built.

Inside the dark room, we could see a lone figure all by itself. We move in closer to see it was the masked person. It looked at the dark blue Chaos Emerald while looking at a wall that featured some weird writing on it.

"Soon..." The masked figure said with it's cybernetic voice. "As soon as I get all seven Chaos Emeralds...then I won't have to worry about it anymore."

* * *

**The strange mysterious mystery deepens. Will Samus and the Chaotix beat Saladan and Iriama to the necklace? Where did Xuan go to? And what does the masked figure mean by it's words? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	9. The Thunder Trap

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Samus Aran © Nintendo

Chapter Nine: The Thunder Trap

**- Wild Canyon -**

The scene shifts towards the Wild Canyon. It was already nighttime and everything here looked peaceful and quiet. There was also something here that was worth taking.

And with that said, we could see a dark portal opening itself, which wasn't too far away from where the canyon's entrance was at. Revealing itself were Saladan the Tiger and Iriama the Shark. These two were sent here by Xuan Iakuda because there was a necklace here that they needed to find.

"So this is the place, mate?" Iriama asked.

"Yes." Saladan answered. "Now we must make our way inside and take the necklace."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Iriama smirked as he made his way towards the canyon. He looked back to see Saladan, whom did not move from his position. "What is it, mate?"

Saladan was looking up at the sky. He could see the full moon shining in the night sky. "I sense that we will no longer be alone."

"Why do you say that?" Iriama asked.

"As a watcher of the moon, I also have the ability to communicate with the moon telepathically. It says that someone else will be here." The brown tiger explained. After a moment of standing there, Saladan tapped his scythe down on the ground and four druids materialized into thin air. Saladan turned his attention to the four dark robe figures. "I want two of you to go with Iriama. The other two will stay by my side."

Listening to his words, two of the druids made their way to Iriama's side. The shark was confused. "What's the deal, mate?"

"Take these druids and go search for the necklace. Since this place is big we need to split up and look in different directions." Saladan replied. "When you do find it, search for me and then we can leave ASAP."

Iriama shrugged. "Whatever works for you."

They soon splitted up in different directions. Saladan and two druids went in one direction of the Wild Canyon, while Iriama and two other druids went the other direction.

* * *

On the other side of the canyon, we could see the ship of Samus Aran making it's landing near the canyon. When it was hovering above the ground a few inches, Samus and the Chaotix appeared from the top as our heroes made their way towards the ground. They looked around at their new surroundings.

"So this is the place, eh?" Vector asked with interest.

"It should be." Espio replied as he pulled out the green Chaos Emerald from an unknown pocket of his. "The Chaos Emerald is reacting to this place."

"Then we better stick together." Samus suggested. "Someone could easily get lost in here."

"Now that's an idea." Charmy nodded. "This place is pretty big."

"Let's head inside. And keep your eyes open for anything suspicious." Samus told them.

Nodding at that idea, Samus and the Chaotix made their way inside the canyon.

* * *

Over with Iriama, the blue shark and the druids that were with him, were searching for the necklace of Thunder that was suppose to be in here. But since this place was so big, it would take a while to find what they were looking for.

"I wonder where this necklace could be? And why did we have to split up? Why couldn't I stick with Saladan and we both look for the necklace together?" Iriama kept asking himself questions before sighing. "Man, I feel I like I'm alone. Well, aside from the two druids that were with me."

As Iriama and the druid looked around, a shady blur passed behind the dark ones. Iriama quickly turned around in a fast reaction.

"What was that?" Iriama asked a little nervously.

He and the two druids waited for a moment. They wanted to see or hear for any signs of movement that may have occurred to them. After hearing and seeing nothing, Iriama let out another shrug.

"Oh well. Maybe it was just a figment of my imagination." Iriama thought.

Before he could turn around, one of the druids was immediately taken out, as it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Iriama turned, but he did not see what had happened until he noticed one of the druids was gone. Iriama raised an eyebrow.

"That's odd. Where did that other druid go to?" Iriama wondered.

And at that moment, another shady blur appeared in the thick of an eye, as it snatched the druid right before Iriama's eyes. The shark widened his eyes in shock.

"W-what the? What was that?" Iriama asked himself nervously. "Who's there?! Whow yourself, mate!"

Iriama looked around, trying to find out who or what it was that took out those druids. For the first time in Iriama's life, he was scared.

"Xuan was right." Iriama said shakily. "There are traps in here...but I never expected this happen."

Feeling that he should move on, Iriama quickly walked as fast as he could, hoping that he could find the necklace before any more of this weird disappearing acts could happen.

* * *

Elsewhere in the canyon, we could see the Chaotix and Samus walking around in the canyon. They were also looking for something else. Something that was attracting the Chaos Emerald's attention.

"So where do you think this Chaos Emerald could be?" Vector asked with a yawn. "I'm already getting tired."

"Just try to stay awake, Vector." Espio said while looking around. "We just have to keep our eyes out, is all."

"Well, I hope we can find it soon." Vector said as he relaxed with his arms behind his head. "With that weird ninja guy and Eggman getting involved, there's no telling what could happen next."

"You said it!" Charmy added with a nod. "But I wonder who that ninja is, anyway?"

Espio was in thought of that himself. That encounter he had with the cybernetic ninja seemed a little personal. That thing was after the Chaos Emeralds for some unknown reason. The only thing it said to him that it was extremely personal. But the purple chameleon wondered what it meant by that?

Samus saw the look on Espio's face. She seemed a little concerned for him. "Are you all right, Espio?"

After a moment of silence, Espio responded. "I'm fine. Let's just find the Chaos Emerald."

From what Samus could gather, it seemed like Espio was only concerned about his mission. Was there something troubling his mind?

The group continued to make their way through the Wild Canyon. Unlike Iriama, they didn't have much problems with the traps that were around here. They were careful enough to avoid it, thanks to Espio's sense, Samus' visor readings, Vector's strength and quick thinking, and Charmy's high view seeing that he could fly and look for any certain traps that might be within range of our heroes. They seemed to be a perfect team.

They were now in the middle of the Wild Canyon. Which showed a large shrine that consisted of four stone pillars. In the middle of it all, there was a yellow necklace hanging around a small statue of a dragon. The Chaotix and Samus saw this as they approached the shrine.

"That must be what the Chaos Emerald is attracting." Samus thought.

"But why a necklace?" Charmy wondered. "I thought they only attracted to other Chaos Emeralds."

"Hmm..." Vector hummed in thought. "Perhaps there's a hidden Chaos Emerald somewhere in that shrine."

"Vector's right." Espio agreed. "Let's go search for it."

But before our heroes could take one step, something jumped in front of our heroes. It was a large ice-like praying mantis with glowing red eyes. On top of the praying mantis was Saladan the Tiger. And he was wearing the light blue necklace that Xuan gave him.

"It looks like the moon was right." Saladan said while rubbing his chin. "There was somebody else here after all."

"Who are you suppose to be?" Charmy asked, confused.

"I am known as Saladan. I am known as the watcher of the moon." Saladan answered. "And it told me that there was somebody else coming here."

"Are you suppose to be some sort of guardian of this place or something?" Samus questioned.

"I am not." He replied. "I'm actually here for something else."

Vector had a pretty good idea on what he was talking about. "You must be after the Chaos Emerald!"

Saladan raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"Don't try and sneak your way out of it! Your after the Chaos Emerald that's hidden here, isn't it?" Vector asked.

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about." Saladan replied. "But I can say that there is no Chaos Emerald here."

"Huh?" Charmy raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I may have spoken too much already." Saladan thought. "Perhaps I should let my praying mantis take care of you."

Saladan jumped off the ice bug creature. When he was off, the praying mantis swinged it's large sharp arm down at our heroes.

"Look out!" Espio shouted.

In the nick of time, our heroes were able evade the large arm that crashed down on the ground. When they were back on their feet, they concentrated their eyes on the praying mantis.

"Great." Espio said with little enthusiasm. "As if we didn't have enough to deal with."

"What are suppose to do against this thing?" Charmy wondered.

Samus looked at the praying mantis. She had a pretty good idea on what this thing's weakness might be. She did something with her arm cannon, as it turned red like lava. She then charged up her arm cannon until she fired a ray of red fire at the praying mantis' leg. The ice-bug like creature cried out in pain as the legs began to grow thinner.

Vector's eyes widened at what he just saw. "What was that?!"

"This?" Samus asked, pointing her arm cannon out. "That was my plasma cannon. My arm cannon can have up to four different types of beams. Wave, Plasma, Ice, and Power Beam."

"That's so cool!" Charmy said excitedly. "Do it again!"

"OK. But I'm gonna need your help, if you can cause a distraction." Samus told him.

"You got it!" Charmy nodded, as he flew towards the head of the praying mantis. "Hey ugly! Over here! Try and hit me!"

The praying mantis saw Charmy flying in front of it's eyes. It raised it's arm in the air and tried to slice at Charmy, whom flew above it while making faces at the ice bug creature.

While Charmy was distracting the ice creature, Samus continued to fire it's plasma beam at the legs of the praying mantis. Vector helped out by blowing out fire at the praying mantis' body. While the two were weakening the creature with their fire attacks, Espio grabbed out some sort of strips of paper with Japanese markings on it.

"This will only take a few seconds." Espio said, as he jumped towards the body of the praying mantis and planted the papers all over it's body by jumping at each body part.

Saladan raised an eyebrow at this. "Exactly what is he doing?"

When Espio was done planting the papers, he gestured the others to move back. Complying, Samus, Vector, and Charmy moved back for cover. When they were in cover, Espio stared up at the ice monster.

"Prepare to die, ice creature!" Espio shouted with a ninja pose.

At that moment, the paper bombs exploded on contact with the ice creature. And since Saladan was close, he also flew back from the impact as he landed on the ground. He then slowly slipped into unconsciousness. Espio covered his face from the smoke, as it continued to blow past the purple chameleon. When the dust finally settled, the smoke cleared and the ice monster was gone.

"All right, Espio. You did it!" Charmy cheered.

"Good job, Espio." Vector said with a smile. "I knew we could count on you."

Samus looked impressed from her eyes. "That was pretty good. For a ninja."

"It was nothing." Espio simply replied.

Charmy looked at the shrine. His eyes widened at what he saw. "Guys look! The necklace is gone!"

The heroes looked to see that the yellow necklace that was hanging around the dragon statue was gone.

"Where did it go?" Vector wondered.

"Do you think it may have blown off from the impact?" Espio wondered.

"No." Samus shook her head. "The dragon statue is still in perfect condition. Someone must've taken it."

"But who?" Charmy wondered.

Espio pulled out the green Chaos Emerald from his pocket, only to see it still glowing brightly. "The Emerald is still reacting to something."

Over at Saladan's downed body, the light blue necklace was glowing brightly. The others turned to see this.

"That necklace is glowing too!" Vector noticed.

"It must be reacting to the necklace. But why?" Espio wondered.

Samus went over to the downed form of Saladan's body and removed the necklace from around his neck. Samus examined the necklace closely. "Whatever the reason, I'm detecting large energy coming from this necklace."

"It must be important, then." Vector thought. "Let's take it with us. It might be an important clue."

"But what about the other necklace?" Charmy asked. "What happened to it?"

"Wherever it is, it's gone now." Samus replied. "Like I said, someone must've taken it. But who, I don't know."

* * *

Outside the Wild Canyon, we could see Rouge the Bat flying in the dark sky as she looked below to see Shadow and Omega giving them a signal. Seeing them, Rouge made her way towards them until she landed on the ground next to them.

"Did you find it?" Shadow asked.

"I got it right here." Rouge said, as she pulled out a yellow necklace, which was the same necklace from the shrine. "I managed to avoid the skirmish that was going on inside there and I found this. They don't call me the world's greatest treasure hunter for nothing."

"All right, then." Shadow nodded. "Let's go. We need to tell the Commander about this."

"Roger." Omega replied.

The three GUN Agents turned the other way and made their way back towards GUN Headquarters with the yellow necklace.

* * *

**Two more necklaces have been retrieved by our heroes. One by Team Dark and one by Team Chaotix. What will these two teams discover from within these necklaces? Why did the Chaos Emerald react to the necklaces power? And how will the villains react to their loss? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	10. Asking Out

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Chapter Ten: Asking Out

**- Tails Workshop -**

The scene shifts towards Tails Workshop in the Mystic Ruins. It was the next day, and inside the workshop, we could see our heroes of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles eating breakfast together.

While they were eating, Knuckles explained to Tails about what happened yesterday.

"So, there's going to be a dance party for the Chaos Emerald?" Tails asked.

"Yeah. And the only way you can enter is to bring a date." Knuckles added. He turned to Sonic, who still had a frown on his face. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing." Sonic shook his head as he continued to eat his eggs.

"Are you sure?" Tails wondered. "You look a little bumbed out."

"Well..." Sonic wasn't exactly sure if he was going to say this or not. "The thing is...I had to make a call to someone early this morning. Before you two woke up, that is."

"Really? Who?" Tails asked.

"Do you remember about that date I told you about? Well, I actually found someone for the dance..."

Before Sonic could officially answer his statement, the door bursted open. Our heroes turned to see a familiar pink hedgehog with a huge smile on her face.

"SONIC!" Amy screamed happily as she ran over to her self-proclaimed boyfriend and hugged him tightly.

"A-Amy..." Sonic choked between her tight hugs. "P-please let me go..."

Amy, of course, let go and stared at him with her bright eyes. "So your finally going out with me?!"

Sonic lowered his head in shame... "Yeah, sure."

Amy squealed. "I knew it! I knew you couldn't resist me any longer!"

"Amy? What's going on here?" Tails wondered.

"Amy...is my date for the dance." Sonic replied slowly.

Tails eyes widened in shock. Amy, on the other hand, was feeling really happy about herself.

"I wonder what I should wear." Amy wondered as she tapped her chin. "I need to wear something fancy, something nice, and something that I know you would love, Sonic."

"Yeah...great." Sonic said slowly.

"Come on! I want you to come with me to go get a nice dress!" Amy told him.

"W-what?" Sonic was confused, until Amy grabbed him by his arm and pulled him out of the workshop. "Wait, Amy!"

"Sorry, Sonic. But there's little time to discuss this." Amy said to him. She turned back to Tails and Knuckles. "See you guys, later. Sonic and I are going out to pick a nice dress for me!"

With that, Amy kept pulling Sonic away from the workshop until they made it to the train station. Back at the workshop, Tails and Knuckles sweat-dropped.

"Do you think Sonic is in way over his head?" Tails asked.

"Either this is the best decision he's made or the worse." Knuckles replied with his arms crossed. "I don't know, but if this is what we needs to do in order to get a Chaos Emerald, we might as well follow him just in case this doesn't go well."

"Your right." Tails replied. "Wait for me out here. I'll start up the Tornado II."

Knuckles crossed his arms as Tails went towards his garage to start up the Tornado II.

* * *

**- Rio Salaz -**

The scene shifts towards Rio Salaz. Inside the Saloon, we could see Samson, Louise, Marisa, Kyla, and Kera sitting around as they were talking with the newcomer known as Viola. Larcen stood away from the Lorikeet, however, seeing as he wasn't comfortable near her.

"So Viola, how do you like this place?" Marisa asked.

"It's very nice." Viola replied with a nod. "Though I wonder why there aren't enough people here. Is it you guys that live here?"

"Not me." Kyla shook her head. "I live in Future City."

"Really?" Viola wondered. "How is it there?"

"It's a nice place. I'm not really bothered by the flying cars or anything. I'm actually more use to it." Kyla replied.

"I see. I'm not really use living in a city. Too many people wonder around there. I like places that are quite and has a small population." Viola answered.

"In that case, you have come to the right place, senorita." Samson said with a grin. "Your welcome to stay as long as you like."

"Thanks." Viola smiled.

Louise noticed the look on Larcen's face. He still didn't seem comfortable around this girl. "Larcen, is something wrong?"

"No." Larcen shook his head. "I'm just not really talkative right now."

Louise looked a little concerned about Larcen. Was there something that was bothering him?

Suddenly, something popped into Marisa's mind. "I almost forgot. Is anyone going to be going to the dance date tonight?"

"Why not? It would be nice to get out and let loose for a while." Kera replied.

"I agree." Louise nodded. "Even though some of us don't have dates, we can still go there for fun."

"But what about the Chaos Emerald?" Larcen asked. "What happens if someone tries to take it?"

"Don't worry." Louise reassured him. "Those jewelry people said that they would be holding safely and they would give it to the winner of a dance competition that's going to take place there tonight."

"Plus, if those druids do get involved, we can fight them off and prevent them from taking the Chaos Emerald." Marisa added.

"They also said to bring out necklaces." Kyla added, as she pulled out her purple necklace. "Those druids seem interested in these necklaces for some reason. If they come for these, we can be ready for them."

"Right." Samson nodded. Then suddenly, an idea dawned into his mind. "Senorita Viola?

"Yes?" Viola raised an eyebrow.

"How would you like to...be my date for the dance party tonight?" Samson asked.

"W-what?" Viola's face flushed. "Why?"

"Just curious. You seem like the type that likes to have fun." Samson answered. "Yesterday, you said that you liked dancing, so I was thinking maybe you could dance with someone other than yourself." The black swallow grinned. "What do you say?"

Viola was a little nervous. She never thought anyone would ask her this. "I...I need to think about it." She got up from her seat and headed outside by the side-winder doors.

The others seemed confused by her reaction just now.

"What was that all about?" Kera wondered.

"Maybe she was afraid of Samson's question? If it was, then it's only natural." Louise replied.

"Really?" Marisa wondered.

Louise nodded in reply. "Some people can be nervous about something that they like to do, especially if it's with someone else."

"That, or maybe..." Kera paused for a moment. "...Maybe she likes Samson."

"What?" Samson was taken back at this. "Don't be ridiculous, senorita Kera. I've only known her for a whole day!"

"I know that." Kera replied. "But it's possible that you have a small amount of feelings for her."

"Well..." Samson rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe a little..."

"That's what I thought." Kera smirked.

Samson shook his head and pretended he never heard it from her. Just then, the side-winder doors were opened by Viola again. The female Lorikeet felt more relaxed than she did previously.

"Viola. Are you all right?" Marisa asked.

"I'm fine." Viola nodded. "Samson?"

"Yes?" Samson raised an eyebrow.

"I have thought about it...and I decided to accept your request. I will go with you to the dance date."

Samson grinned widely. "All right!"

"But, this is only a friendly date, OK?" Viola added.

"Sure." Samson shrugged. "It's fine by me."

"Well, if we're going, I'm going to go get myself prepared." Viola said, as she made it towards the stairs and headed towards her room.

The others watched her until Viola was gone.

"It seems like she's likes doing things by herself." Kyla noticed.

"Maybe she's just not used to us yet. Let's give it time. I'm willing to bet that she will be used to us after a while." Louise replied.

"Right." Marisa nodded.

Larcen only had his arms crossed while remaining silent. For some reason, he could feel that Viola was up to something. It may have sounded absurd, but it just felt like that to him. Whatever the reason, he would ave to keep his eyes on her at the dance party tonight, just to see if he could confirm his suspicions.

* * *

**- Unknown Location -**

The scene shifts towards the dark place that was filled with druids. Inside the main room, we could see Saladan and Iriama arguing about something.

"You were lost?" Saladan said with an unpleasant face.

"Hey, don't blame it on me, mate!" Iriama fired back. "I couldn't help it. That place was big. And besides, I was attacked!"

"What happened to the druids that were with you?" Saladan questioned.

"They disappeared. Right when I was turned around, they were gone!" Iriama replied. "Probably something happened to them. Maybe it was because of those traps."

"I didn't encounter any traps." Saladan replied.

"What? How's that possible?" Iriama wondered.

"Because I was more careful." Saladan replied. "I'm willing to bet you weren't paying attention to your surroundings."

"I was, mate!" Iriama replied quickly. "I was paying attention, unlike you, who had lost two necklaces."

Saladan narrowed his eyes at him. "If you weren't lost, perhaps we could've gotten those necklaces and none of this would happen."

"Well..." Iriama was trying to find something to counter back with. When he couldn't think of anything, he sighed as he gave up in hopelessness. "Man, coming up with words isn't easy, I tell you that."

The argument soon ended afterwards. Then suddenly, a dark wave of energy appeared at the top of the short flight of stairs. The tiger and the shark turned to see this, as they see Xuan Iakuda appearing out of the dark portal. He had a smile on his face.

"Good evening, you two." Xuan replied calmly. "I trust the mission was a success?"

"Well, you see..." Iriama rubbed the back of his head.

"Yes...?" Xuan narrowed his eyes a little.

"I'll explain it." Saladan said.

He explained the events about what had happened at the Wild Canyon to Xuan. The male human listened carefully to his story. When Saladan was done, Xuan hummed to himself.

"So in the end, you lost two necklaces? One, in which, I gave you?" Xuan questioned.

"Yes." Saladan replied gently. "I deeply apologize for our failures."

"Hmm..." Xuan was in silence for a moment. He then smiled again. "That is all right."

"Wait, what?" Iriama raised an eyebrow.

"Even though we have lost a couple of our valuables, it is only fair to gain new valuables out of this." Xuan replied.

"What do you mean?" Saladan questioned.

"After nearly a days worth searching, I have found one who would be able to help us collect the Chaos Emeralds. Someone who takes things seriously. I have no doubt that this person will be able get us what we need. It is a most valuable ally."" Xuan explained.

"Really?" Iriama said, a little anxious to hear this.

Xuan smiled. "Gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you the newest member of the Ministry."

A dark portal opened itself again, thanks to the dark powers of Xuan Iakuda. The figure appeared in a shadowy form, as it stepped out of the portal and revealed it's true self.

* * *

**A new figure appears in the darkness? Who is this shady character? Will it make it's impact at the dance party? And will Sonic be able to live through of date dancing with Amy? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**

**

* * *

**

Hey guys! I decided to throw in a crossover villain into the mix. But the problem is that I can't decide between two of them. So instead, I'll let you guys choose who it will be from below.

A) Grievous (Star Wars)  
B) Shredder (TMNT)

As an added little bonus, the winner of the villain poll will play a big role in my next story The Great War (not the official title). So unless you don't want to be blasted by Chaos Punishment, Vote Now!


	11. Dance Crashers

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Shredder © Mirage

Chapter Eleven: Dance Crashers

**- Soleanna -**

The scene shifts towards Soleanna. The rest of the day had passed by and it was now nighttime here at the place known as the City of Water. It was clearly decorated, much like the festival of Soleanna when Elise lit the flames of Solaris.

Inside a large castle, we could see a lot of people here, mixed of humans and animals that were there for the part that was taking place. It was the Soleanna Dance Parlor. A wonderful event in where everyone could dance freely whenever they liked.

Over near the buffet table, we could see our heroes consisting of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. The only thing different about them was that Sonic was wearing a tie, which was forced on him by Amy. While the pink hedgehog was wearing a fancy red dress with red heels and long white gloves. Sonic was busy eating chili dogs at the buffet table while Amy was delighted at what she was seeing.

"This is so beautiful." Amy said as she clasped her hands together. "I never imagined it would be as fancy as this."

"Your right. A lot of people seem to be enjoying this." Tails added.

"I wonder how long it will take before the others show up." Knuckles wondered as he crossed his arms. "To be honest, I'm not really one for parties."

"Well look on the bright side, Knuckles." Tails smiled sheepishly. "At least Rouge isn't here."

"Good thing, too." Knuckles added. "If she asked me out, I would refuse on the spot."

"Are you sure about that, honey?" A familiar voice asked sweetly.

Knuckles and Tails turned to see a familiar white bat approaching our heroes. Rouge was wearing a sparkling black dress, along with black heels slippers. She currently had a smile on her face.

"Speak of the devil..." Tails said with a sigh.

Knuckles growled a little. "What are you doing here, Rouge?"

"Relax, honey." Rouge waved her hand at him. "I'm just here for the party like everyone else." She showed off her hand, pretending like she didn't care. "I never said I was interested in you."

Knuckles glared at Rouge a little longer before calming himself down. "I'm keeping my eye on you."

"Yeah, whatever." Rouge shrugged.

Over at the doorway, we could see more of our familiar heroes of Larcen, Marisa, Louise, Kera, Kyla, along with Samson and Viola. Samson was wearing his usual attire of a cowboy suit while Viola wore purple lipstick and remained in her black clothing. With Marisa, we could see the young female human wearing a light green dress along with green slippers. Her mother was wearing a purple dress along with purple heels, while Kyla wore a light-blue dress and light-blue heels that showed part of her feet.

"Wow, this place is beautiful." Marisa said with interest.

"Well it certainly is fancy." Louise added. " I just never imagined how big this place was."

Kyla looked around until she saw our heroes at a fair distance at the buffet table. "There they are!"

Our heroes looked to see the Sonic Heroes enjoying themselves. A moment later, our heroes from Rio Salaz came towards them and greeted each other.

"Welcome, you guys." Sonic greeted with a grin.

"Thank you." Louise replied. "I'm guessing we're not too late."

"Nope!" Tails shook his head. "You arrived just in time!"

"That's good to hear. Then I'm guessing those druids haven't arrived yet." Kera thought.

"Nope. No signs of those guys in bath robes yet." Sonic replied.

"If they do show up though, me and Kyla will be on our guard." Larcen pointed out to his necklace.

"I'm guessing you brought them?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah." Kyla replied, as she showed her purple necklace that was hanging around her neck.

"Well, it looks like everyone has showed up for the party." Rouge noticed.

"Where's Shadow?" Amy wondered.

"He's back with GUN Headquarters trying to get any information on those necklaces." Rouge answered. "We're looking into it though, so until then, we're just gonna lay back and wait until something else happens."

As they all finished their conversation, the spot light pointed towards Alyson Sweet and Yublein the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The two Jewelry owners. Alyson was wearing her usual fancy dress while Yublein had on a suit and still had the monocle over his right eye. Everyone turned their attention towards them as they approached a microphone at the top of a balcony.

"Hello everyone!" Alyson greeted cheerfully. "It is our pleasure to welcome you all to the Soleanna Dance Parlor!"

Most of the guests clapped their hands in response.

"And as a special bonus, I would like to announce that we are officially holding a dance competition. The only way to enter the competition is that you have to be a couple." Yublein added. "Now your probably asking yourselves; what's the prize?"

The question was answered when Spade the Pterodactyl came flying down towards the floor and landed on his feet. In his hand, he was holding a red Chaos Emerald that was incased in a small glass case. He placed it on a pillar for show.

"And now, we want the couples that are interested, please make your way to the dance floor!" Alyson announced.

Before Sonic could eat another bite of a chili dog, Amy pulled his arm to force him to the dance floor.

Knuckles smirked, seeing Sonic's reaction on how Amy was forcing him to dance with her. But unfortunately for Knuckles, Rouge wrapped her arm around the red echidna's arm and smiled at him.

"W-what are you doing?" Knuckles asked, taken back by this.

"I'm getting you to have some fun." Rouge told him, as she pulled his arm towards the dance floor. For some reason, Knuckles didn't fight back against this.

"Come on, senorita Viola." Samson gestured to follow him.

"A-all right." The female Lorikeet nodded as she followed Samson to the dance floor.

Sonic looked around to see that there were only three couples dancing together. He wondered if anyone else was going to take part in it.

"Your not starting this party without us, are you?" A familiar voice asked.

Our heroes turned to see three familiar figures standing there near the door. The figures were revealed to be the Babylon Rogues.

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Jet?"

Jet and Wave made their way towards the dance floor. Jet had a grin on his face when he saw Sonic. "So Sonic, you finally gave into that brat, didn't you?"

That struck a nerve in Amy's head. "What was that?!"

"Why are you guys here?" Sonic asked.

"We only came here because we heard there was a Chaos Emerald on the line." Jet replied.

"We know it's a dance competition, but that doesn't mean we can't enter." Wave said with a wave of a finger.

Storm joined the rest of our heroes as he had a huge grin on his face.

"Your not gonna enter?" Kera asked him.

"No way." Storm shook his head. "Dancing is not my thing. I only came here to see that red mutt get humiliated." He chuckled at that moment.

Knuckles growled at his rival before turning to Rouge. "Listen and listen good. I'll agree to dance with you, but on because I don't want to get embarrassed by him."

"Fine. Whatever works for you." Rouge said with a smile.

A few more couples decided to join in as well. Once they were in their stance, Alyson made the next announcement.

"All right, then! Since this is all the competitors, let us start the dance competition!"

Spade started the music, as we could hear soft sweet music blaring out of the speakers. The couples held each other as they began to slowly walk around while dancing slowly to the music.

Sonic was feeling nervous as he any Amy slowly walked around while they danced slowly. Amy seemed to notice this.

"What is it, Sonic?" Amy asked. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Uh, well, not really." Sonic replied nervously. "I-I'm not really a good dancer."

"Oh, come on, now." Amy said to him. "I can guide you through with this soft music. Just take it slow, one step at a time."

"OK..." Sonic replied slowly. He took slow steps with his feet, as Amy guided him through with each step. He had to admit, at first he wasn't liking this because he thought Amy would try to kiss him, but with following Amy's advice, it was actually working. Amy stepped one foot backwards with Sonic stepping one foot forwards. Sonic's right hand was holding Amy's left, as the two stepped around in a circle while continuing to dance. After about a minute of this, Sonic was finally beginning to get use to it. Maybe this wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

Over with Knuckles and Rouge, they were trying to stay in balance while slow dancing, but they kept screwing up by stepping on each other's foot or accidently bumping into other people while they were dancing.

"Would you get a grip, Knuckles?" Rouge asked firmly, but quietly at the same time.

"Me? Your the one who's stepping on my foot so many times." Knuckles whispered back at her with a low growl.

"I'm trying to win the Chaos Emerald, so I would appreciate it if you cooperated with me." Rouge fired back with a low voice.

"And I'm trying not to get embarrassed by Storm. Besides, your the one who dragged me into this." Knuckles pointed out.

"Then let's to put our differences and stay focused." Rouge decided with a firm voice.

"Right back at ya." Knuckles replied with a hint of anger in his voice.

Storm was starting to laugh at Knuckles making a lot of mistakes. The grey albatross looked over at Jet and Wave, who had a rocky start at first, but they seemed like really good dancers. It was like they had been doing this for years.

'You know, we should do this more often." Wave thought.

"Only if it involves something good in it." Jet added. "Dancing isn't exactly my thing, you know."

"Come on, Jet." Wave said to him. "Don't you feel good to get the stress off your body?"

"Only if it involves being the fastest." Jet replied. "As you know, Sonic and I still have unfinished business."

"Well, of course. But it was just a suggestion." Wave replied.

While the two birds were discussing about something, Samson and Viola seemed to be being good at this. At first, Viola wasn't feeling exactly perfect dancing with another person, but once she got the hang of it, it was only smooth sailing from here. As the dancing continued, Viola looked over at Larcen, who seemed to be talking with Marisa. She noticed his green necklace that was still hanging around his neck. It really intrigued her the more she looked at it. It was like she was in a trance or something.

"Senorita Viola..." The black swallow whispered in her ear.

Viola snapped out of her trance and focused her attention on Samson. "Huh?"

"Are you feeling all right?" Samson asked quietly. "It looked like you were staring off into space."

"Oh, never mind that. I was just distracted is all." Viola replied quickly. "Thanks for bringing back my attention."

Samson wondered why Viola wasn't paying attention to the dance a moment ago. Maybe it was just natural for someone to do that, so he decided to shrug it off and focused on the dance.

The music continued for another few minutes until it finally stopped. The guests cheered for their performances as Alyson stepped up to the microphone again.

"Thank you for those wonderful performances!" Alyson said with a smile. "And now, we shall determine who has danced the best out of all our couples!"

The crowd waited anxiously for the results, wondering which couple would be able to win the Chaos Emerald.

Suddenly, a loud crash knocked down the doors. Everyone turned to see what was going on.

"What was that?! What happened to the doors?" Amy asked, shocked by this.

Her questioned was answered as eight druids entered the room one by one until they formed two lines out of four druids. Everyone was confused by this.

"What's going on?" Marisa wondered.

"I'm not sure, but I'm willing to bet that it must be related back to what happened yesterday." Louise said with a serious voice.

Our heroes got into stance, waiting for any signs of movement by the druids. Nothing happened as the druids stood there by the entrance way that used to be held by the doors.

"Are these the druids that you guys were talking about?" Kyla asked.

"Yeah." Larcen nodded. "There were only four last time, but I'm guessing they must've stepped up in their numbers."

Kera, the purple hedgehog, narrowed her eyes as she got her Dragon Sword ready while getting into a stance. "Why aren't they moving?"

"I don't know..." Tails wondered. "Maybe they're waiting for someone."

Knuckles eyes narrowed immediately at something else. "We got more company!"

Rouge's eyes widened at what she was seeing. "Who the heck is that guy?"

We look over to the doorway to see a new figure entering the room. The figure looked like a humanoid and was concealed by a grey and black feudal armor, possessed spiked shoulder blades, wristbands, knee guards, and a helmet with a three-pronged crown. The most notable thing about this figure was a red-point symbol on it's sash, the twin-claws on it's left hand, and the bright red eyes that were shown on it's face.

It's eyes were focused on a certain object that was on display. The figure spoke with a scary and an imitating voice. "Ah, so that's one of the seven Chaos Emeralds I have heard so much about..."

Alyson didn't looked pleased to see this new person crashing into the dance party as she quickly made her way down the stairs and got into the figure's face with an angry look on her face. "Would you mind telling me why you have barged in here like this?"

The figure looked down at the human woman's face. Without warning, the figure grabbed Alyson by the collar of her dress. lifted her up from her feet, and glared at her with it's red eyes. "Do you have any idea who I am, woman? I am the known as the ultimate evil born of destruction and chaos! From the ashes I rise like the flames of a phoenix! I am known as the one true Shredder!"

Alyson began to grow scared as the Shredder threw her with one arm in a different direction. Alyson crashed head-first into a wall, where she was immediately knocked out into unconsciousness. Everyone in the crowd was in shock.

"Alyson!" Tails exclaimed.

"She's hurt!" Amy said with shock.

Knuckles glared at the Shredder in anger. "I'll show him who's boss!" He gripped his fists and charged after him. Rouge was surprised by this.

"Knuckles, what are you doing?" Rouge asked like he was crazy.

Knuckles jumped in the air and prepared to smash the Shredder's face into pieces. Before he could get to Shredder however, one of the druids appeared in front of Knuckles and blasted Knuckles with it's dark magic. Knuckles was sent flying backwards until he landed on his back in pain.

"Knuckles!" Rouge exclaimed, as she went over to check on Knuckles.

Shredder laughed at this moment. "Did you really believe you get to me that easily? Now you will all pay for your foolishness! Druids, attack!"

On his command, the eight druids moved into action. Most of the guests had ran out the door to get to safely while our heroes were left to deal this assault.

Over with Louise and Marisa, the two sages were dealing with two druids that were about to corner them. They raised their arms in the air as they prepared to fire dark magic at the two females.

"You know what we need to do, right?" Louise asked.

"Yeah." Marisa nodded.

Marisa and Louise raised their arms in the air as a ray of light energy blinded the druids, forcing them to cancel out their dark magic. When they were blinded, Marisa and Louise clasped their hands together and blasted a ray of thunder magic towards the druids, electrocuting them until they disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Samson and Viola backed away from a druid that was attacking them with it's dark orbs. Samson and Viola were lucky to be able to dodge these attacks by jumping backwards. Samson had Viola in his arms as he kept avoiding the dark orbs that came after him. Viola kept her arms around Samson's neck as hard as she could. The druid decided to switch tactics by creating a larger dark orb with it's hands until it released it towards the two birds. Samson quickly was able to dodge it, but part of the blast sent him and Viola sliding across the ground.

Viola slowly got to her feet as the druid approached Samson with two dark orbs in it's hands. Samson was still trying to get back to his feet. Her eyes widened at this. "Samson!"

Samson looked up to see the druid about to finish him off until a windy blur smashed the druid, sending him flying across the room until it made impact with the wall. A short moment later, the druid disappeared in a puff of dark smoke.

"What just happened?" Viola wondered.

The windy blur came from Jet the Hawk, as we see him approaching Samson on his board. "You look liked to be finished for a moment."

"Thanks, amigo." Samson nodded as he got back to his feet. He turned to Viola. "Senorita Viola, are you OK?"

"Uh..." Viola was nervous to answer. "Yeah. I'm fine. No bruises or anything."

Samson sighed in relief. "That's good to hear. Now let's hope the others have better luck than we did."

Knuckles and Rouge were also being backed thanks to two druids that was going after the echidna and bat. The two anthros were eventually back into each other as the druids began to tower over them.

"Well, I knew these guys could crash a party. But I didn't think it would happen in this way." Rouge said.

"Save the jokes for later, bat girl." Knuckles told her. "We need to find a way to take out these druids before they get to us."

Then out of some strange events, they both had an idea. The two looked at each other for a moment before grinning.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Rouge asked him.

"By that look in your eye, I know exactly what your thinking." Knuckles answered.

The two nodded once as they wrapped one around each other as they spinned around in mid-air. This caught the druids off-guard, as it was the perfect opportunity for Knuckles and Rouge to strike back. Releasing their grip of each other, Knuckles gripped his right fist while Rouge aim her right foot. At the same time, both druids were attacked in the stomach by Knuckles fist and Rouge's foot, as they were sent flying backwards until they disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Both of the anthros landed bak on their feet as Knuckles smirked at his work.

"Well, that didn't seem to take long, am I right?" Knuckles boasted a bit to Rouge.

His response was a quick kiss to the lips by Rouge. Knuckles eyes widened in shock. She was kissing him! Knuckles wanted to back away, but for some reason, he couldn't. Rouge's lips were locked onto Knuckles until she finally let go. Knuckles face turned red afterwards.

"It was OK. But it wasn't as good as mine." Rouge said with a wink.

Knuckles wanted to react back, but he couldn't. He just stood there. Dumbstruck at what he just experienced.

Sonic and Larcen had no trouble dodging the dark orb attacks that were coming from the last druid, seeing as how they were fast and the druid wasn't. The two hedgehogs nodded to each other once as Sonic turned himself into a buzz saw while Larcen's necklace glowed with green energy. At the right time, Sonic and Larcen dashed towards the druid at high speed. The druid had no time to react back as the two hedgehogs smashed into it at high speed, sending the dark robed figured flying backwards until it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sonic and Larcen landed back on their feet as they glanced at each other with a smirk.

"That was pretty sweet." Sonic said to him.

"Ah, it was nothing." Larcen retorted with a wave of his finger.

"Hey, that's my line!" Sonic replied back.

Knuckles glanced over at Shredder, who just watched the whole thing. "It looks like your ally by yourself."

Shredder snickered a bit. "Fools! I don't need help to defeat you!"

Without warning, Shredder got into a fighting stance and charged after Knuckles. The red echidna met the challenge as he jumped in mid-air and swinged his fist at Shredder's chest. The metal warrior defended himself by holding his arms to his chest, as the fists of Knuckles continued to slam away at the mid-section of Shredder repeatedly. Knuckles soon got tired of this as he landed on the ground. Without having anytime to rest, Knuckles jumped in mid-air again and swinged his fist, this time, he went for his head. However, Shredder was able to catch Knuckles arm with his left hand. He swinged Knuckles in the air and threw him across the room. Knuckles crashed into a wall before falling face-first towards the ground.

"Knuckles!" Tails cried out.

Rouge looked over at the fallen Knuckles. She frowned to see Knuckles behind thrown like that. She turned to Shredder and narrowed her eyes at him. "No one treats Knuckles like that. And I'm going to make you pay, tin can!"

"Then come at me, foolish creature! If you even dare to attack me!" Shredder shouted.

Rouge decided to test his words as she flew into the air with her wings until she was at a good height. When she was ready, got her sights set on the Shredder.

_"Drill Kick!"_

Rouge spinned herself in a tornado as she aimed her feet at the Shredder. The metal warrior narrowed it's eyes as it jumped in the air and striked at Rouge with his twin claws, cancelling her attack and sending her flying across the room. She landed on her back in pain while sliding across the floor. She groaned for a moment before falling into unconsciousness.

Shredder landed swiftly back on his feet and looked over at the fallen Rouge. "How weak of her. She wasn't even fast enough to strike at me in time."

And at an odd moment, a windy blur striked at the Shredder, which was enough to send him flying backwards until he landed on his back with a thud.

The windy blur turned out to be Jet the Hawk again, as the leader of the Babylon Rogues hopped off is board and rejoined with Wave and Storm, whom also had their boards in hand.

"Well, would you look at that. I was able to strike at you the fastest." Jet boasted with a grin.

Shredder was able to get back to his feet as he glared angrily at green hawk. "You annoying pigeon! You dare strike the one true Shredder?!"

"My, my..." Jet said while waving his finger. "Someone has a bad temper problem. Perhaps you need an attitude adjustment." He turned to Wave and Storm. "Let's get him!"

"Right." Wave nodded.

"I'm right behind ya, boss!" Storm said with a chuckle.

The two birds got on their boards and rode after the Shredder at high speed. The masked warrior narrowed it's eyes again as he saw the three coming towards him. As he was about to Strike, Wave and Storm splitted up from Jet. Now the Shredder wasn't sure who was going to attack first. He looked at each rogue, trying to figure out which one to take out first.

Wave went first, as she dashed after Shredder. Before the metal warrior could react in time, Wave striked at him with her trsuty wrench. The metal tool was able to make contact with his right leg. This caused Shredder to stumble, but just a little bit. While he was stunned, Storm dashed after him with his fist gripped tightly. At the right time, he smashed his fist at Shredder's left leg, causing him to stumble some more, but managed to stay on his feet.

Jet decided to wrap this up as he pulled out his fans and dashed after the stunned Shredder, hoping to make contact with him. The Shredder saw the green hawk coming towards his way. He wasn't going to fall for this a second time, so from out of nowhere, Shredder made a running boost and did a high kick to Jet's stomach, knocking him off his board. Jet flew backwards as he landed on his back while rolling on the ground in pain.

"Boss!" Storm exclaimed. The grey albatross looked over at the Shredder, whom was still standing tall. "I'm gonna make you pay for that!"

"Storm, wait!" Wave tried to stop him, but was too late.

Storm was riding his way towards Shredder with his eyes narrowed and his fist gripped again. Shredder turned to see Storm with an angered face, but he wasn't moved by this. By the time Storm swinged his fist, Shredder quickly grabbed him by the arm and threw hi moff his board with ease. Storm was sent flying in the air until he fell front-first to the ground.

"Storm!" Wave exclaimed.

Shredder turned towards Wave and stared at her. "Do you wish to take me on? Or will I kill you myself?"

Wave gritted her teeth. What was she suppose to do now?

"Hey, metal head!"

Shredder turned the other way to see Sonic and Larcen the Hedgehog standing in a fighting stance. "So you two wish to meet the same fate as the rest?"

"What are you talking about?" Sonic asked. "You crashed in here, frightened off a lot of people, and your attacking our friends. Why are you here, anyway?"

Shredder chuckled evilly. "Vermin. I'm here for the Chaos Emerald. And any who gets in my way will perish!"

"Well, then it looks like we'll have to take it to you." Larcen told him. "Ready, Sonic?"

"Right back at ya." Sonic replied back.

The two blue hedgehogs jumped after Shredder at high speed and knocked him in the chest at the same time. Shredder staggered backwards a couple of steps before managing to stop himself. He looked on to see Sonic and Larcen running after him again. Shredder tried swiping at them, but the hedgehogs proved to be too fast for him as Sonic dashed behind him while Larcen, with the power of his necklace, also dashed behind him as well. Shredder turned around, only to see Larcen standing there by himself.

"Where is that other rat?" He demanded.

"Over here." A voice called out to him.

Shredder turned the other way, but only to see Sonic doing a homing attack to his chest. The Shredder staggered backwards, and Larcen joined in as he attacked the back of Shredder's legs, knocking him backwards while landing on his back.

Sonic and Larcen rejoined together as they watched the Shredder get back to his feet.

"You inconceivable rats! You will pay for your futile efforts!" Shredder shouted at them angrily.

"Oh yeah? Just try." Sonic challenged him.

Shredder looked over at the Chaos Emerald that was still encased by the glass. Thinking quickly, Shredder jumped in the air and acrobatically landed in front of the Chaos Emerald. In a swift moment, he slashed the glass into pieces with his sharp claws. Once the glass was broken, the Shredder took the Chaos Emerald and held it in his hand.

"So this is the Chaos Emerald. It looks much different to my eyes." Shredder said with interest.

Kyla's eyes widened. "He's got the Chaos Emerald!"

"What are you going to do with it?" Sonic questioned.

"First off..." Shredder said as he glared at our blue heroes. "I'm going to take you out." He raised the Emerald in the air. "Chaos Control!"

Within a bright flash, the Shredder disappeared. Our heroes looked around the room.

"Where did he go?" Marisa wondered.

"Be on your guard." Kera told them as she gripped her Dragon Sword while protecting the ones who couldn't fight, which were Kyla. Though if she had her tennis equipment, she would be able to help out our heroes. But she had left it back in Rio Salaz, thinking that she didn't really need it.

Bad night to think that. The Shredder reappeared behind Kyla Vonstar. Kyla turned around, but only to get a large hand wrapped around her throat. Kyla tried fighting it off, but the Shredder's grip was too strong as his vice was clutched around her neck tightly.

"Kyla!" Marisa shouted in horror.

Louise had to react quickly here. She created a miniature tornado in her hand and casted it towards Shredder. The wind was able to blow Shredder off it's feet as he flew backwards until he crashed into a wall. He had released his grip on Kyla when Louise had saved her.

When Shredder was out of the way, the others went to check on Kyla.

"Kyla, are you all right?" Marisa asked with concern.

The light-blue haired female human choked a couple of times, trying to get her breathing. "I-I'm fine." Kyla said, as soon as she got her voice back.

Louise looked over at Shredder, whom was getting back to his feet. She glared at him. "Stop what your doing, or else I'm going to make you wish that you never came here!"

Shredder stared at Louise Harmon, not sure whether or not to be amused by her words. "And what makes you think you can stand up to me, woman?"

"Perhaps you don't know who I am." The sage told him. "My name is Louise Harmon. I am known as the greatest magic-user in the world, and if you harm any of my closest friends, I will destroy you!" Louise said with no fear in her voice.

Shredder took a keen interest to Louise's words. It sounded like she really meant what she said. "While I would love to test your words, I'm afraid I have no time for games." He raised the Chaos Emerald into the air again. "Chaos Control!"

Within a bright flash, the Shredder had disappeared, vanishing from the scene.

Louise took a deep breath as she looked around. A lot of our heroes were taken out. Rouge, Knuckles, Jet, Storm. Even the jewelry person, Alyson. This Shredder seemed like he meant business.

Alyson rubbed her head as Yublein and Spade went to check up on her.

"I say, my dear, are you all right?" The Tyrannosaurus Rex asked her.

"I-I'm fine..." Alyson replied a little weakly. "What happened?"

"It seemed like tin head took the Chaos Emerald and caused a bit of destruction." Spade replied, pointing out what had happened.

Alyson looked at the scene of destruction. "Oh my..." She clasped her mouth in shock. "The dance party is ruined!"

Viola was not believing was she was seeing. She didn't think things would turn out this bad. Not like this. All of this violence seemed to affect her and Samson seemed to notice this.

"Are you all right, senorita Viola?" Samson asked.

Viola didn't answer. She was just too afriad to actually say anything. By looking at her face, Samson decided to wrap his arm around her and hold her tight.

"Don't worry. I'm here for you." He told her with a grin.

"T-thanks you, Samson." Viola said with a small smile.

Wave went over to Jet, whom was recovering from his attack some moments ago. "Boy, that guy really knows how to hit hard."

"That's why we should always be careful." Wave said. "Who knows what could happen if we're not?"

Jet looked around the place. "Where's Storm?"

"Right here, boss..." Storm said weakly, as he rubbed his head in pain. "Ow...that was a hard hit if I ever felt one."

"Are you OK, Storm?" Wave asked.

"I guess so." Storm thought. "Where did that metal guy go?"

"He took the Chaos Emerald and disappeared using Chaos Control." Wave answered.

Jet's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"

"I saw the whole thing. Sonic and that other hedgehog were busy fighting him, but that guy managed to get the Chaos Emerald in disappeared with it." Wave explained.

"Oh great." Jet groaned. "Just our luck. Now who knows where that guy may have taken off to."

Sonic and Larcen joined up with the rest of our heroes. Knuckles had managed to recover, but Rouge on the other hand was injured pretty badly. There were claw marks on the side of her face, which we could see some trickles of blood.

"How's Rouge doing?" Tails asked.

"Not good." Knuckles replied. "That Shredder person must've did the damage to her."

"We'll need to get her to a hopsital." Sonic suggested. "Station Square should have one there."

"I'll call for help." Amy replied as she made her way towards a nearby phone.

The others looked down at the fallen Rouge. Larcen and Sonic got together and talked about something.

"Why do you think that Shredder person was here?" Larcen wondered.

"I don't know. But I'm willing to bet that he's working with those druids." Sonic thought.

"Do you think he might be the one responsible for the necklace stealing's?" Larcen asked.

"I want to say yes, but I don't think that guy was here for those. "He wanted the Chaos Emerald more than necklaces. Come to think of it, he didn't mention one thing about those things."

"Hmm..." Larcen was in thought. "Well, I'm not sure what exactly is going on here. But me and my friends are going to do whatever we can to figure out who that was and what do our necklaces have to do with these druids."

"OK." Sonic nodded at him. "We'll get Rouge to the Emergency Room and inform Shadow about this."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Larcen nodded once.

Sonic was in thought about the Shredder. And about the druids that were with him. Could they be after necklaces and the seven Chaos Emeralds at the same time? If so, then why? All of these weird events were getting to strange and mysterious at the same time.

* * *

**A new enemy has arrived from within the Shredder. Why was he after the Chaos Emerald? Is he working for the druids? And is Sonic's theory about the Chaos Emeralds and the necklaces true? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	12. Hidden Emotions

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Samus Aran © Nintendo

Chapter Twelve: Hidden Emotions

**- Station Square Emergency Hospital -**

The scene shifts towards the Station Square Emergency Hospital. It was early the next morning after the Shredder crashed the dance party in Soleanna, caused chaos, and to top it all off, he took the Chaos Emerald that was suppose to be for the dance competition.

We scan towards inside one of the rooms to see Rouge the Bat resting on a bed. The claws marks on her face were being treated by the nurses and doctors. The blood on her face was cleaned up, but she was still feeling a little drowsy and hurt. She was not alone, thankfully. Inside the room, our heroes consisting of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and the Babylon Rogues were with her as well.

"I hope Rouge is going to be OK." Amy said with hope.

"I hope so, too." Tails added. "That attack she suffered was pretty bad."

Sonic agreed on this as well. He looked over at Knuckles, whom looked like had nothing to say about this. Sonic noticed his face being blank, which kinda concerned him. It looked like Knuckles was being his normal self, but he felt that something was wrong with him. He wasn't sure at first, but he had a pretty good idea on what it was that was bothering Knuckles.

"I wonder who that Shredder guy was." Jet thought. "Whoever he was, he sure seemed serious.

"What I want to know is what those druids were." Wave wondered.

"We can explain that." Tails spoke up.

Wave raise an eyebrow. "You can, shorty?"

"Yeah." Tails nodded. "Well, even though we don't know exactly everything about them, we can tell you what we know."

"Whatever works for you." Wave shrugged.

"OK then." Tails nodded again.

Tails explained the events that took place a couple of days ago. Starting with Saladan and a band of druids invading Station Square and the taking of a light blue necklace, and it ended with what happened late last night.

"So these guys are suppose to be treasure hunters?" Storm wondered.

"We're not sure." Sonic replied. "Larcen and Kyla also have the same type of necklace that the one Saladan took a couple of days ago. It can't be just any mere coincidence."

"But what if they are just regular necklaces?" Amy asked.

"Don't you remember, Amy? Larcen's necklace has powers, which is basically speed and some other abilities that I'm not even aware of."

"Then what powers does Kyla's necklace possess?" Amy questioned.

"I don't know." Sonic shrugged. "But the fact remains is that these druids mean business about getting these necklaces."

"And let's not forget that they now have a Chaos Emerald in their possession." Tails added.

"And with that Shredder person in their ranks, these guys are only going to be more dangerous than ever." Sonic stated.

The group remained silent. The situation was growing deeper with each day, and no one knows the motive about why these druids need these necklaces. As they were thinking about this, the nurse opened the door and peeked her head in.

"Uh, excuse me?" The nurse called out.

"What is it, nurse?" Tails wondered.

"I'm just here to tell you that Rouge has another visitor." The nurse replied before opening the door wider.

The other visitor that had arrived to see Rouge was Shadow the Hedgehog, who still was his usual self.

"Hey there, Shadow!" Sonic greeted with a grin. "Where've you been?"

Shadow walked over to Rouge's bed, only to see her still resting. He noticed the claws marks that were visible on her face. "What happened to her?"

"Well..." Sonic wasn't exactly sure how he should explain this. "There was this dance party that was going on at Soleanna last night. We were invited and everything seemed to be going good. Until the druids appeared again and the one leading them was much different than Saladan or Iriama."

"Well?" Shadow narrowed his eyes. "Who was it?"

"It was some person known as Shredder." Tails answered.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Shredder?"

"Yeah. We don't know much about him because he only appeared last night at the Soleanna dance party." Tails explained.

"That, plus he attacked Rouge." Amy added.

Shadow looked over at the sleeping Rouge. "Is she going to be OK?"

"We think so." Tails thought. "The damages were severe at first, but the doctors were lucky enough to be able to fix her wounds in time."

Shadow was relieved to hear this. Meanwhile, Sonic wanted to ask a question.

"Shadow? Did you find anything about those necklaces?" Sonic asked.

"I do have some information." Shadow replied. "From what we could gather, we believe that these necklaces the druids are after have special powers."

"That's kind of old news." Sonic said. "Mind giving us new info?"

"As I said, these necklaces all have special powers." Shadow pulled out the yellow necklace that he, Rouge, and Omega retrieved a couple of nights ago. Our heroes eyes widened at the object Shadow was holding.

"That's another necklace!" Tails pointed out.

"Where did you get that?" Amy wondered.

"It was located at Wild Canyon." Shadow answered.

Knuckles seemed surprised by this. "Wild Canyon?"

Everyone turned towards Knuckles, whom had spoken for the first time since Rouge had gotten hurt. Knuckles looked around, a little confused.

"What?" Knuckles wondered. "Why is everybody looking at me?"

"You haven't spoken since we got here." Jet told him.

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"You mean, you didn't notice?" Wave wondered.

"N-no." Knuckles shook his head. "I guess I was daydreaming or something."

Storm smirked. "What? About your bat girlfriend?"

Knuckles growled angrily at his rival. "She is not my girlfriend! Get that over your head!"

"Uh guys, can we get back to the conversation?" Amy asked, trying to calm the situation down.

Eventually, Knuckles and Storm calmed down. Which meant that Shadow could continue with his story.

"Like I was saying. Rouge managed to sneak in and retrieve the necklace." Shadow replied.

"All by herself?" Sonic wondered.

"She isn't known as the world's greatest treasure hunter for nothing, you know." Shadow pointed out.

"Well, that's true." Sonic shrugged before grinning. "But you have to give Knuckles credit. He is someone who could match Rouge in treasure hunting skills."

Shadow didn't really comply back to that comment. Instead, he went on with his story. "According to what we know, there are seven necklaces in total."

"Let's see..." Tails rubbed his chin. "Those villains took the necklace from Station Square, Larcen and Kyla have two, and Rouge took the one from the Wild Canyon. So that makes four necklaces so far."

"Do you know where the other three are?" Amy asked the black hedgehog.

"No. But we are looking into that right now." Shadow answered. "And until we find them, we do nothing."

"By we, are you talking about G.U.N.?" Sonic asked.

"Yes." Shadow replied.

"But what about the Chaos Emeralds? That Shredder guy is looking for them." Tails said.

"Shorty is right." Wave said. "He could be the one behind this whole thing."

"It's possible, but that alone does not prove it." Shadow told her.

Another moment of silence appeared. No one had said anything for a minute, until Sonic broke the silence.

"Guys, let's head back to the Mystic Ruins." Sonic suggested. "I'm sure Shadow wants to speak with Rouge alone."

"OK." Tails nodded. "Let's head back."

"Not us." Jet shook his head. "We're not gonna sticking around with you guys."

"However, we will keep an eye out and let you know if we found out about anything." Wave told them.

After saying their peace, Jet, Wave, and Storm headed out of the room and left the hospital. Sometime after they left, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were leaving the room as well to give some alone time to Rouge. Before they left however, Knuckles looked back at Rouge one more time. Mixed feelings were stirring inside Knuckles ever since the female bat was attacked by the Shredder. The feelings were made up of anger, sadness, an emotion. He shut his eyes tightly, rethinking those memories from last night, but he remained calm before leaving the hospital with the others.

* * *

**- Chaotix Detective Agency -**

The scene shifts towards the Chaotix Detective Agency. We could see Vector, Espio, and Samus sitting around the desk while Charmy buzzed around the room. Over at the desk, Samus, whom was now wearing an orange leather tank top, orange leather shorts, and orange boots, still had the light blue necklace in her hands while Vector was holding the green Chaos Emerald.

"Man, I'm bored." Vector twisted his head, trying to relax. "It's already been a couple of days and we still haven't found any traces of this Metal Ridley or that masked ninja anywhere."

"It's only been a couple of days, Vector." Espio said calmly. "You know these things take times."

"I know." Vector said with a sigh. "I just can't think on an empty stomach."

That's when Charmy's eyes lit up. "Hey Vector, can we order a pizza?"

Vector grinned at that idea. "I was just about to suggest that. Good thinking, Charmy!"

"You know me, Vector. I always have a good mind!" Chamry laughed as he pointed his finger at his head.

Vector turned to the purple chameleon. "Espio, go order a large pepperoni pizza for us, OK?"

"Roger that." Espio nodded once as he went over to a nearby phone.

Samus raised an eyebrow at the current situation. "Do you guys always act like this?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Vector asked.

"You always like to goof off every now and then. I noticed it yesterday when you were leaning back in your chair and listening to some music, and Charmy was buzzing around the place from the outside. I was talking with Espio, whom was the only one helping me with the current situation." Samus explained. "To me, it seems like you guys don't take things seriously."

"Well..." Vector was trying to find some way to reply to Samus comments. "I understand that of what you think, but if you remain serious all the time, then all of that pressure will get to you. You got to learn to let loose a little and relax. Have some fun every now and then."

"Sorry, but I'm not exactly the 'fun' type." Samus replied with her arms crossed.

"Have you ever tried, though?" Vector asked.

"No. And I don't want to either." Samus answered.

"But you always act serious all the time. I noticed it back at the Dusty Desert, too. It looked like you weren't really interested in talking, and it kinda concerned me a little." Vector explained. "Is there something on your mind you want to talk about?"

"No. I do a lot of things by myself, which doesn't really bother me, to be honest." Samus said.

Vector felt a little sad for Samus. In his mind, Samus reminded him of Shadow, but he never had to work alone. Rouge and Omega were always by his side in the thick of things. Vector was wondering if Samus has the same problem like Shadow did. "Are you feeling all right, Samus? The way you respond sounds like your angry at something."

"Angry?" Samus raised an eyebrow. "Don't be ridiculous."

"But it sounds like it, to me." Vector said.

Samus was starting to get a little irritated. "I'm fine! It's how I'm always like."

"Are you sure?" Vector asked again.

Samus was beginning to blow a fuse. "Yes! I'm fine! Stop asking me that!"

Vector was a little taken back my Samus' reaction. "I-I'm sorry. I just wanted to help-"

"Well, don't! Your already starting to bother me and it's really starting to make me mad! Just leave me alone!" Samus told him with a stern voice before getting up and leaving the room. Charmy stopped what he was doing as he looked on, puzzled at what just happened.

"Boy, talk about getting angry." Charmy stated.

Vector was already beginning to feel worried and bad at the same time. He was worried, because he may have already lost a chance for Samus to become friends with the Chaotix. He also felt bad about himself, because he may have overdone what he did. He wasn't sure what to do now.

Espio had entered the room after ordering the pizza. He noticed the look on Vector's face. "What happened?"

"Vector and Samus were having some sort of argument and then Samus got angry and left the room." Charmy answered.

Vector sighed in sadness. "I was only trying to be friendly to her."

"Hmm..." Espio was in thought about this. "Perhaps I'll go talk to her. I think she might listen to me."

"Can I come with you?" Charmy asked, as he raised his hand in the air.

"I don't think it will be necessary, Charmy." Espio answered.

"Aw, but I want to help, too!" Charmy whined a little.

Espio sighed a little. "All right. But let me do the talking."

"Yay!" Charmy cheered, as he followed Espio towards to where Samus went off to.

Vector leaned back in his chair and again while staring up at the ceiling. For some reason, he couldn't help but feel that this was his fault.

* * *

Espio and Charmy opened the door that was the entrance to the Chaotix's place. The two looked around until they saw Samus sitting on top of her ship, with her back turned away from the others.

With Samus, the female human stared at the sky with a straight face. She still looked a little angry after lashing out at Vector like that, and she wanted to get away from him to have some time to herself. But deep inside, she felt that getting angry at Vector like that seemed a little unnecessary, but he wouldn't stop saying to her to relax and let loose a little. Samus closed her eyes to tried and relax herself.

"Hey Samus!"

Samus opened her eyes and turned around to see that Charmy and Espio were on top of her ship, as they met face to face with each other. "What do you guys want?"

"We wanted to come up here and see if you were all right." Espio replied.

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Samus wondered.

"You yelled at Vector and left the room. It seemed like you were angry at him." Charmy explained.

"What were two arguing about?" Espio asked.

Samus kinda had a feeling that Espio and Charmy would know about this. So seeing no way out, she told him about her problem. "It started when I asked Vector if you guys acted like you usually did all the time. He told me that sometimes you don't have to be serious all the time and just learn to have fun and relax. I kept reply that I'm not that kind of person, but Vector just kept saying things like the way I talk makes me feel angry. I got a little frustrated and yelled at him before storming out to get some fresh air." She answered.

"Hmm...it seems like you were guys were having a simple argument." Espio replied.

"I guess." Samus shrugged.

"But why did you have to yell at him?" Charmy wondered. "He didn't do anything wrong. And he was only trying to be friendly to you."

"I know..." Samus lowered her eyes. "I'm beginning to think that maybe I shouldn't have lashed out at him like that."

"Hey, it's not your fault..." Charmy said with a smile as he flew lower to Samus' eye level. "These things happen a lot."

"He's right." Espio added. "You can't be angry at someone else when they are trying to be friendly to you."

"Come on. Can't you let it go and say your sorry?" Charmy asked.

Samus thought about it for a long moment. Would she able to make amends with Vector and forget that this whole thing happened?

* * *

Back inside, Vector was still feeling glum about what had happened earlier between him and Samus. He was probably thinking that Samus would leave the Chaotix and do things on her own again. Or maybe that she would got so angry that she would probably hate Vector for good. He was really feeling bad about himself now.

As he was in his thoughts, Espio, Charmy, and Samus had come back into the room.

"Vector?" Espio raised an eyebrow.

Vector snapped out of his thoughts to see the trio standing there. He felt worried to see Samus there, though. "W-what is it, Espio?"

"There's something that Samus wants to say to you." Espio turned to her. "Go ahead."

Samus slowly approached the desk until she was looking at Vector. The leader of the Chaotix was nervous to hear what she had to say.

Samus took a deep breath and spoke. "I'm sorry for what happened earlier. My anger got the best of me and I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that. It was my fault and I do feel really bad about it. I apologize and I hope you can forgive me."

Vector felt kinda happy to hear that Samus was sorry for what she did, but he himself felt bad about what he might've caused earlier and decided to say something too. "I'm sorry, too. I was only trying to be friendly to you, but maybe I took it too far."

"It wasn't your fault." Samus shook her head. "You were just acting as yourself." She paused again as she looked away from Vector. "Listen, I had been thinking about what you said earlier. About being friends and all that. Well, I was thinking that maybe...we could friends."

"Really?" Vector's eyes flashed. "You mean it?"

Samus slowly nodded. "Yes." She then extended her hand towards him.

Vector smiled as if a sigh of relief had taken over him. He extended his own hand until the two hands met in a grip as a signal of friendship.

As the amends were made, a knock on the door was heard. Charmy went over to the window to see who it was. He smiled widely.

"PIZZA!" Charmy squealed. "THE PIZZA IS HERE!"

Espio covered his ears, trying to get the loud noise out of his head while he made his way over to the door. He opened it to see a pizza delivery woman standing there with a large box of pizza.

"Hello, did you order a large pepperoni pizza?" The pizza woman asked.

"Yes." Espio pulled out some money from an unknown pocket and handed it to the pizza woman. She took the money from him and handed the pizza to the purple chameleon in return. "Keep the change." He said as he closed the door from behind him.

Charmy clasped his hands together as Espio came by with a large pizza box in his hand. Vector grinned widely with interest.

"All right! Charmy, get the drinks!" Vector told him.

"Right!" Charmy saluted before flying towards the kitchen.

Espio placed the pizza box on Vector's large desk. Vector could smell the pizza from the inside of the box. "That sure does smell good."

"I bet it even tastes better." Samus added with a small smile.

Vector agreed completely. Just then, Charmy came in with a large soda bottle along with four cups. Charmy got a little tired from lifting the items, but thankfully for him, Samus took the soda while Espio got the cups while setting them down. Once everything was settled and the drinks have been poured, Vector lifted the box, revealing a large and tasty pepperoni pizza that was just ready to be eaten.

"Mmm...it looks so good." Charmy said hungrily.

"Let's each grab one for now." Espio said.

Each of our heroes grabbed one slice of pizza. Vector then raised his his soda-filled cup in the air. "I would like to give out a toast."

Charmy, Espio, and Samus raised their cups as Vector spoke again.

"I would like to say that when we finish our mission by hunting for Meta Ridley, we will all have ourselves a huge reward. And I would like to share it with each of you, personally. Uh..." Vector paused for a moment trying to see if there was anything else he could add. "...and I would like to toast this mainly to our new friendship with Samus, along with Espio and Charmy." Vector grinned widely again. "To friendship!"

"To friendship!" Espio, Charmy, and Samus replied as the four clattered their glasses together in a shown sign of friendship.

* * *

**Samus and learns to open up her heart and become friends with the Chaotix. Will they able to hunt down Meta Ridley together? Will Samus learn to let loose every now and then? And with Shadow's new information, where are the remaining necklaces located? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	13. Racing for Water

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Chapter Thirteen: Racing for Water

**- Twinkle Park -**

The scene shifts towards Twinkle Park. It was a familiar park with rides, booth attractions, and the Tunnel of Love. You could even get in here for free if you were a cute couple coming here. We scan closer to see the Babylon Rogues walking around the place for some unknown reason.

"Uh, what are we doing here again?" Storm asked, puzzled.

"Because there is a necklace here, Storm." Wave told him. "After what we heard earlier, there must be a necklace here."

"And seeing as how there a lot of attractions with water, it is, in my opinion, a good place to start searching for." Jet added with a grin.

"Are you sure about that, boss?" Storm asked again. "This place is pretty big."

"We've been here before, Storm." Wave reminded him. "Remember?"

Storm rubbed his chin for a moment until it hit his mind. "Oh, that's right! This was where we faced that Team Doom."

"And since we've been here before, it shouldn't be too hard to locate what we're looking for." Jet said.

"Well, look at this!" A voice called out. "It's ironic that we would run into you here!"

The Babylon Rogues turned to see where that voice came from. Jet frowned at who he saw.

"Oh great. It's you." Jet said with sarcasm.

Facing across them some feet away were three familiar figures. Yamkir the red hedgehog, the Gothic Female human known as Xion Herra, and Robin the Mammoth. These three turned out to be Team Rockers. The trio approached the Rogues.

"That's right. It is us; the greatest Extreme Gear Team in the world! We are Team Rockers!" Yamkir announced with a smirk as he, Xion, and Robin swiftly turned their heads to the side while looking up at the sky. After having a moment to themselves, they turned their attention back at the Babylon Rogues.

"What are you guys doing here?" Wave asked impatiently.

"We saw you leaving the Station Square Hospital, so we immediately decided to follow you guys and see where you were heading." Xion replied.

"Don't you punks have anything better to do?" Storm said with his eyebrows narrowed.

"Now hold up a minute, laddie." Robin stopped him. "We were actually wondering what ya lads were doing here."

"Did you stop by to get a good view of the park?" Yamkir asked with a cocky smile.

"Not exactly." Jet replied with his arms crossed.

"We're here looking for a necklace." Wave replied.

Xion raised an eyebrow. "A necklace?"

"It's a little complicating, you see." Wave said, while rubbing her head.

"Do you have to tell them, Wave?" Jet asked her.

"Well, seeing as a lot of people know, at least these guys should know what's going on, too." Wave answered.

"What do you mean, lassie?" Robin wondered.

Wave explained to Team Rockers about the events from last night. About the dance party being crashed by the Shredder, taking out most of our heroes, and taking the Chaos Emerald in the end. She also mentioned about the necklaces that Shadow told our other heroes back at the Station Square Hospital. When Wave was finished, Team Rockers took a moment to gather all this information in.

"I don't know about you, but this whole thing about druids and necklaces seems pretty messed up." Yamkir said with a shrug.

"But we do understand what your saying." Xion added. "Come to think of it, we had heard about a necklace that was taken from Station Square."

"Yeah. That happened a couple of days ago, according to that black hedgehog." Storm explained.

"And we have a reason to believe that there is a necklace that represents water, and since there area lot of attractions that have water here, we figured this was a good place to look for it." Wave said.

"Water?" Yamkir rubbed his chin.

"What is it?" Jet raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know if I'm right, but I remember picking up this." Yamkir pulled out something from his fur coat.

The Babylon Rogues eyes widened at the object Yamkir was holding in his hand. It was an aqua-blue necklace.

"That necklace!" Storm exclaimed.

"Where did you get it?" Wave asked.

"We found it somewhere laying near the park while we were following you guys." Xion answered.

"We need it!" Storm exlacimed, while pointing his finger at the necklace.

"I have a better idea." Yamkir said with interest. "We shall race for it."

"Race?" Wave raised an eyebrow.

Yamkir pointed at a certain direction. "We shall have a race. It's with the same racetrack we used back months ago. It will be a one-lap race and the winner gets the necklace."

"Hmm..." Jet hummed with interest. "If that's the case, then we gladly accept your challenge."

"Very well." Yamkir said as he, Xion, Robin, and the Babylon Rogues made their way towards the starting line of the race.

Once all of the racers had made it to their positions, Yamkir acted as the referee for the match.

_**5...**_

**_4..._**

**_3..._**

**_2..._**

**_1..._**

**_GO!!_**

At the word go, the six racers took off on their boards. Jet took the lead with Yamkir following in second. Robin was in third, while Storm followed close behind in fourth. Xion and Wave were very close to each other as they tried to get ahead of one another for the fifth position.

In the front, Yamkir managed to race next to Jet. The green hawk glanced at him.

"Now's my chance to actually beat you, green bird!" Yamkir told him.

Jet didn't seemed fazed by his words. "That'll be the day."

Behind them, Robin had managed to get a little ahead of Storm, but the grey albatross wasn't going to hold back as he gripped his fist, rode next to Robin and smashed his fist at the mammoth's side.

In the middle of the pack, Storm and Robin were battling it out with each other by trading fists. As this was going on, Wave and Xion had managed to pass by them while the two power-houses battle it out. The two females looked back to see how they were holding up.

"I want to go back there and help Robin, but I don't think he needs it." Xion thought.

"Neither does Storm. Knowing him, he'll always get into a fight, no matter who it might be." Wave added.

The racers soon reached their first obstacle; The roller coasters. There were six in total, each one was fitted for each racer. Jet was the first one to reach it by taking the first seat before taking off. Yamkir took the second seat as it took off after Raye. Xion got in the third seat before taking off. Wave took the fourth seat as it took off, as well. Storm got into the fifth seat, while Robin took the last seat before taking off.

The first two racers, which were Jet and Yamkir, made it off the roller coaster and raced their way off towards the first ramp. They boosted off the ramp, while doing a few tricks in the air before landing on the pirate ship. The pirates came out and tried to attack the racers with their swords.

"Well, it looks like someone is going to be left behind." Jet said to him with a grin.

"Not unless I get past it first, green bird." Yamkir replied back.

The two challenged each other, as they each raced past the pirates that tried attacking them with their swords, but were unsuccessful. Jet and Yamkir managed to avoid the pirates while racing their way towards the bumper cars. Behind them, the four racers made it towards the top as they got off the roller coaster and began to race downwards towards the ramp that would lead them to the pirate ship. After zig-zagging down a stairway, the four racers managed to reach the ramp as they boosted off of it while doing tricks and flips in the air before landing on the pirate ship. Once they landed on the ship, they began to race towards the deck while avoiding the blades of the pirates. Without much trouble, the four racers avoided the pirates as they raced their way through the deck of the ship.

The four were bunched together as they raced towards the bumper cars.

"It looks like we're all necked together, laddies." Robin pointed out.

"Only one of us is going to get through this, though." Storm said.

"One?" Xion raised an eyebrow, as if to be amused. "How about two of us?"

"Two?" Wave wondered.

On that word alone, Xion and Robin boosted away from Wave and Storm, leaving a gust of wind to pass by the two birds.

Once the wind was out of their faces, Storm looked ahead to see that Xion and Robin were far ahead of them. "Aw man, there gone!"

"Their probably going to join back with that red hedgehog." Wave thought. "If that happens, then Jet is in trouble. We have to hurry!"

"Right." Storm nodded, as he and Wave boosted after the four remaining racers.

Up ahead of them, Jet and Yamkir were at the bumper cars as they raced around them while trying to pass each other along the way. But so far, they seemed pretty evenly matched.

"You know, your still at the top of your game, bird boy." Yamkir told him.

"For once, you haven't lost your edge either." Jet said back to him.

"Well, that only says that I want to beat you more so that my team and I can prove to be better than you." Yamkir said with a smirk.

"It still won't happen." Jet said, not really taken back by Yamkir's words.

Behind them, we could see the two remaining members of Team Rockers approaching the bumper cars. They could see Jet and Yamkir up ahead of them.

"At this rate, we might not even reach those two in time." Xion said.

Robin was in thought about something. That was, until he got an idea. "Aha! I got it!"

"Got what?" Xion wondered.

"Xion, ya get behind me." Robin told her. "All right, lass?"

"All right, I guess." Xion shrugged.

Xion got behind Robin as the mammoth got ready for something. He glanced at all of the bumper cars, trying to figure out something. When he glanced his eye at a certain bumper car that was ahead of him, he raced towards it and slammed into it at high speed. The bumper car was sent flying into the air as it flew towards Jet and Yamkir.

Back up ahead, the two leaders of their respected teams were still racing side by side, trying to get a good opening and pass the other.

"It looks like it's just gonna come down to us again, green bird." Yamkir said with a smirk.

Jet thought that to be true for a moment. That was, until he glanced back to see something from behind him. "Sorry, but it looks like I've already won."

With that, Jet boosted away from Yamkir as fast as he could. The red hedgehog raised an eyebrow, confused. He then turned around, but only for his eyes to widened at the on-coming bumper car that was coming towards him. Before Yamkir could get away, the bumper car crashed at his back, sending Yamkir flying off his board and landed face-first into the ground, not moving.

Xion and Robin widened their eyes at that moment.

"Oh no! Dude!" Xion exclaimed.

"Yamkir's hurt!" Robin added.

The two members of Team Rockers quickly raced at high speeds towards their fallen leader. When they made it towards him, the two hopped off their boards and went to check up on Yamkir.

"Dude, are you all right?" Xion asked, a little worriedly.

Yamkir rubbed his back and looked up to see Jet crossing the finish line. Yamkir groaned as he sat up on the ground. "That bumper car came flying at me. How did that happen?"

"I-I'm terribly sorry, laddie!" Robin cried out. "I smashed the bumper car so that it would go after the green bird instead of ya! It's all my fault!"

"Forget about it, Robin." Yamkir said, as he slowly got back to his feet. "I know it wasn't your intention, so let's just forget about it."

Robin sighed in relief. Meanwhile, the Gothic female human looked at him with a little concern.

"Are you all right, dude?" Xion asked.

"I'm fine, babe." Yamkir told her. "No minor injury is gonna hurt me."

Xion felt relieved to hear that. She looked over to see that Jet was coming towards them, along with Wave and Storm, whom had already crossed the finish line sometime back.

"Well? The necklace?" Jet asked for it.

Yamkir looked down at the ground for a moment. But he gave in, as he reached into his fur coat and pulled out the blue necklace. "Take it."

Jet took it in acception. "Are you going to be all right?"

"Like I said..." Yamkir rubbed his back in pain. "No minor injury isn't gonna hold me down. Besides, when we race again. We will be back, ready to take you down."

"You won't win." Jet said, as he turned around and walked off. Wave and Storm followed him until he stopped. "But I'll look forward to it." He then continued to walk off with the two birds at his side.

Back with Team Rockers, Yamkir felt more pain from his back as he slipped down to one knee. Xion and Robin noticed this.

"Dude, are you sure your all right?" Xion asked with concern again.

"I-I'm fine, babe. Really." Yamkir ressured her with his grin. Another groan of pain was heard from him again.

"Hang on. Let me carry you." Xion said, as she slowly picked up Yamkir and held him in her arms. "Robin, can you get his board?"

"Sure thing, Xion." Robin nodded, as he used his trunk to pick up Yamkir's board, while picking up his own board with his arm. "Where should we go, though?"

"To the Station Square Emergency Hospital." Xion replied.

"Hold on, Xion." Yamkir stopped her. "Why are you taking me there?"

"I'm worried about you, dude. I'm sure you might be fine, but just in case, I want the nurses to take a look at you." Xion smiled at him." OK?"

At first, Yamkir wasn't really open to the idea, but when she mentioned the nurses, he felt relieved. "All right, babe. You win. Let's go."

Xion nodded, as she and Robin made their way out of the park and towards the Station Square Emergency Hospital.

* * *

**The Babylon Rogues managed to defeat Team Rockers in a race for another necklace. Will the Rogues inform the Sonic Heroes about their retrieval of the necklace? Will Yamkir recover after getting hit in the back by that bumper car? And where are the remaining two necklaces located? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	14. Metal Tower

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Metroid © Nintendo  
Shredder © Mirage

Chapter Fourteen: Metal Tower

**- Prison Island -**

The scene shifts towards Prison Island. This was an island that was once blown up by Dr. Eggman after retrieving several Chaos Emeralds that were located here several years ago. Now the place is nothing but an abandoned island, in which G.U.N. no longer overlooks.

We scan towards a closer look at the island. Over at a part of the island, we could see Samus' ship making it's landing, just before it stopped itself while hovering a few inches above the ground. From the top, Samus and the Chaotix appeared. Samus, in her Power Suit, somersaulted into the air and swiftly landed on her feet, while the Chaotix jumped lightly from the ship and on the ground as well. Once they were on the ground, they looked around at the place.

"So this is Prison Island, eh?" Vector asked with interest.

"As expected. It's deserted." Espio stated.

Samus darted her eyes at her surroundings. Prison Island did look deserted. It looked like she had seen something like this before. Something like Tallon IV, only with no signs of life forms around. Well, other than herself and the Chaotix.

Charmy had his hand above his eyes, as he looked at the place with a kind of high view. "So, is there suppose to be a Chaos Emerald around here?"

"There should be." Espio replied, as he pulled out the green Chaos Emerald. "According to the Chaos Emerald's energy readings, there is another Chaos Emerald somewhere on this island."

"It sure is bigger than I expected." Samus thought. "But then, it's not really a surprise."

"What do you mean?" Vector wondered.

"It kinda looks similar to something I've seen before." Samus answered.

"Really? How so?" Charmy asked.

"It's kinda looks like a crash site I once visited. Even before it had crash landed before." Samus added.

Espio thought the same thing. When the Chaotix was on ARK, it still looked very new, despite it being over 50 years old. There was no one there anymore, obviously, after the Eclipse Cannon had destroyed the Black Comet after Shadow defeated Devil Doom.

"Let's keep going, guys." Vector said to them. "We have a Chaos Emerald to find!"

Agreeing to his words, the team of four ventured into the abandoned island, hoping to find a Chaos Emerald that would be hidden somewhere within this place.

* * *

On another side of Prison Island, we could see Dr. Eggman in his Egg Mobile as it hovered above the ground. Decoe and Bocoe were on the ground as they looked around the place.

"Well, it definitely looks like Prison Island has changed a lot." Decoe said with a thought.

"How?" Bocoe asked the gold robot. "It's deserted."

"Exactly my point." Decoe retorted. "It hasn't been the same since G.U.N. has abandoned the place after it was blown up."

"Well, of course it hasn't." Bocoe replied. He looked at the place. It was still filled with some hints of toxic river pollution and some broken down machinery. "It's a shame that G.U.N. hasn't done anything to help clean this mess up."

"Then again, I'm glad that they didn't." Eggman spoke. "If G.U.N. had cleaned it up, then technically, they would still have built a new version of Prison Island. But since that isn't the case, we could take over this place anytime and claim this as our new base."

"But Dr. Eggman, don't you already have a base?" Decoe asked.

"Yes. But just in case I want to switch plans, then this place would be my new base. Wouldn't you agree?" Dr. Eggman asked with a grin.

The two robots nodded their heads in agreement.

"I completely agree, Dr. Eggman." Decoe said.

"Me too." Bocoe added.

"I'm glad you agree." Eggman said. That's when he got back his serious face. "Now are you sure our secret weapon is ready to go?"

"After a number of testings, it is ready and waiting, Doctor." Decoe briefly reported.

"Excellent." Eggman grinned again. "Now, let us go find ourselves a Chaos Emerald."

* * *

Back with our heroes, they were still venturing further into Prison Island. Espio kept watch of the Chaos Emeralds energy readings just to see where it would lead them.

While he was doing this, Charmy looked up around at the trees.

"What are you looking for, Charmy?" Vector asked.

"I'm trying to search for the Chaos Emerald. What else?" Charmy asked him with a shrug. "It could be anywhere, so it is important to keep your eyes out at all times. Right?"

"Hmm..." Vector rubbed his chin. "Your right, Charmy! I totally forgot!"

Espio looked around at his surroundings. Including the trees. "From I could tell, I don't see a Chaos Emerald around here. Not yet anyways."

Samus remained silent the rest of the way. Mainly because, she was focused on her mission. Despite becoming friends with the Chaotix, that did not mean she strayed away from her serious bossy attitude. There was a Chaos Emerald here, and she would not stop until she completed her mission.

A few minutes later into their walk, Samus stopped. The Chaotix looked at her as she stayed in that position.

"Hey Samus, are you OK?" Vector asked. "Did you find anything?"

Samus pointed her finger at something. "Look."

The three members of Chaotix turned to see something that Samus was staring up ahead. It was a large metal tower standing in the middle of this forest. It looked like it was built by G.U.N. at first glance, but after getting a closer look, we could see that this was not true. There were no signs of G.U.N. on this tower whatsoever. The last time anyone was here was Shadow, who at the time, was searching for answers to his past.

Charmy kept his eyes locked on all parts of the tower. Charmy was also one of the last ones here on Prison Island. The reason for this was that Vector sent him on a mission to find some top secret disks. Even when Charmy was here, he had never seen this tower before. It was kinda confusing to him.

Vector was the same. Even he had no idea there was a tower here. "What is that thing suppose to be?"

"It's a tower." Samus replied. "What else?"

"Well...it's strange." Vector said as he scratched his head. "I just never seen this tower before."

"But how is that strange?" Charmy asked. "It looks pretty harmless to me."

Espio narrowed his eyes at this strange tower. "Something is wrong here. For one, this tower was not built by G.U.N. Federation. Two; Even if it was, you would think that they would have something to do with it. And three, this tower couldn't have survived from being blown up. Unless..."

"Unless what, Espio?" Charmy asked anxiously.

Espio had a theory in his mind. "Someone else built this tower."

"He could be right." Samus said. "This tower..." Just by looking at the designs of this tower from the outside, it seemed like she had seen this kind thing before. Samus had a sinking feeling about this suspicious tower. "Something about it just bothers me."

"Hmm..." Vector rubbed his chin in thought. "Perhaps we should check out what's on the inside."

"That is exactly what I've had in mind." Samus said, as she got her arm cannon ready. "Let's go."

The four headed towards the door of the tower. The door opened itself as Samus and the Chaotix entered inside the tower. When all of them were inside the tower, the door behind them closed.

* * *

**- Metal Tower -**

On the inside of the tower, we could see that it was dark here. Vector and Charmy couldn't see a thing, due to the darkness that surrounded the place.

"Could anyone turn the light on?" Charmy asked. "I can't see a thing."

Samus, switched her visor, so that it changed into a different viewpoint. It looked like night vision goggles from her first point of view, but instead of green, the objects were orange and there was some hints of darkness that represented the floor and walls. She looked around for any signs of a light switch. She saw one at the corner of where Charmy was buzzing near at. So she made her way towards it and flipped the switch.

The light itself was turned on, as the Chaotix looked around, finally being able to see everything.

"Finally! Light!" Vector shouted with relief.

Espio looked to see Samus turning on the light in the dark. "How were you able to find that light switch?

Samus switched her visor back to her normal version before answering Espio. "I used my Thermal Visor to help me see in dark places. I am able to see everything, including the light switch."

"So it's like night vision goggles?" Vectort asked.

"Sort of. But not quite." Samus answered. "Night vision goggles only help you see in the dark. Thermal vision can help you to not only see in dark place, but also to find objects much easier, too."

"That's so cool!" Charmy said happily. "I want one of those!"

"We can worry about that later, Charmy." Espio said. "For now, let's focus on finding that Chaos Emerald."

"Right!" Charmy nodded.

Our heroes continued on forwards through the large hallway of this strange tower. Samus looked around at the place. From the outside, she could tell that the tower was already suspicious. When she saw the inside of this place, she saw that this tower's machinery looked very familiar. But she wasn't exactly sure if her suspicions were true or not. The only way she would know is that she would have to continue onwards.

As they continued walking, Espio immediately stopped. Vector seemed to notice this as he told the others to stop as well.

"What is it, Espio?" Vector asked.

Espio's eyes looked right and left before fixing them up ahead. "Something's close."

"Is it the Chaos Emerald?" Charmy wondered.

"No. I sense danger nearby." Espio replied.

After those words were spoken, a few new figures dropped from the ground. From their physical appearance, they appear to be alien-like creatures that looked the same. Their skin was of a grayish-blue color. Their heads looked round at the top with a shade of orange and with two antennas, their eyes were yellow, it's mouth had two bottom teeth that were separated by several inches. It's upper body was shaped like a spine. It's arms were shaped with two fingers on it's hand. One it's right arm, there was a large metal-like cannon above it's right arm. And on it's left arm, we could see a large yellow sword-arm attached to it's left arm. And it's feet were also alien-shaped too.

The Chaotix were taken back by these alien-like creatures.

"W-what are those things?" Vector asked a little nervously.

"Those things look like the Black Arms." Charmy thought.

"But did you ever see the Black Arms look like that?" Espio asked him.

"Uh..." Charmy scratched his head. "No. I guess not."

Samus used her visor to scan these creatures until she got a reading.

_Enemy Identified: Space Pirate Trooper. Sentient aggressor species well trained in weapon and melee combat. Space Pirates wield Galvanic Accelerator Cannons and forearm-mounted Scythes in combat. This species seeks to become the dominant force in the galaxy, and their technology may help them realize this goal. Ruthless and amoral, the Pirates care little for the cost of their ambition. Only the results matter, and they take these very seriously."_

Samus had her suspicions confirmed. "Space Pirates."

Vector looked at her weirdly. ""Space Pirates?"

"These things aren't to be taken lightly." Samus replied. "Be on your guard."

One of the Space Pirates jumped at Samus with it's scythe. Thinking quickly, Samus rolled out of the way before it could hit her. Samus fought back by firing many Power beam shots at the Space Pirate. The shots connected with the Space Pirate as it staggered backwards a few steps. The Space Pirate fought back by firing shots from it's cannon at Samus. The bounty hunter quickly jumped to the side to avoid the shots before returning the favor by firing a missile at the Space Pirate. The missile connected with the Space Pirate as it cried out in agony, but was still alive. Samus decided to quickly finish this as she charged up her arm cannon and fired a charged beam shot at the Space Pirate. The alien creature cried out in pain one more time before falling to it's death.

Another Space Pirate was firing shots at Charmy, whom was flying around them, trying not to get hit. When Charmy found an opening, he quickly used his stinger and poked the Space Pirate in the leg. The Space Pirate took the effect, but it didn't look liked it affected him much. Charmy looked to see the scythe was about to hit him, so he quickly flew upwards to avoid the swing, in which was able to do this just in time. Charmy then buzzed towards the Space Pirate again and smashed it in the stomach with his arm. The Space Pirate staggered backwards a couple of steps, but was able to stay on it's feet. Before Charmy could attack again, the Space Pirate jumped in the air and, this time, was able to attack Charmy with it's scythe. The attack connected with Charmy's side as he was sent flying dizzily in the air before crashing to a wall.

Charmy shook his head, trying to get the dizziness off of him. "Man, that must've hurt."

The bee looked to see the Space Pirate was about to jump him without warning. When the Space Pirate jumped and was about to attack Charmy again, a bright glowing missile blasted at the Space Pirate's side, sending it flying backwards as it landed on the steel ground with a thud. The Space Pirate groaned weakly before dying.

Charmy looked over to see that Samus had saved him. "Thanks, Samus!"

"It was nothing." Samus replied. "Just stay focused, all right?"

"You got it!" Charmy answered with a smile.

Vector was busy defending himself as another Space Pirate was trying to attack at the green crocodile's head with it's scythe. Vector had to admit, he didn't expect the Space Pirates to be this strong or fast before. Perhaps this is what Samus meant when she said that these things weren't to be taken lightly. When the Space Pirate stopped attacking, Vector decided to fight back by punching the Space Pirate in the stomach, sending the alien sliding backwards on it's feet before the it managed to stop himself. The Space Pirate immediately aimed and fired it's Galvanic Cannon at Vector. The green crocodile reacted quickly by ducking it's head while the shots passed over him.

Vector decided to fight back by blowing fire from it's mouth and straigh towards the Space Pirate. The Space Pirate quickly rolled to the side before firing more shots from it's cannon. The shots connected with Vector's stomach, as he stopped blowing fire as he grasped his stomach in pain.

"Oh man, that hurt." Vector said with a little pain in his voice.

The Space Pirate decided to take advantage of this as he charged after Vector with it's scythe again. Vector looked up after being able to recover from those shots to see the Space Pirate jumping in the air and was preparing to strike down at Vector. The green crocodile's eyes widened at this, but he quickly retaliated by blowing out another flamethrower at the Space Pirate. The flames encased the Space Pirate as it fell to the ground on it's knees.

Vector decided to finish this off. He took a piece of bubble gum from his pocket and quickly chewed it. Once he was done, he started to blow a pink bubble at it's largest size. He then blew it towards the Space Pirate, whom was still trying recover from his burns. Once the bubble was close enough to the Space Pirate, the bubble blew up in an explosion, causing the Space Pirate to fly backwards until it landed on it's back, dead.

"Phew!" Vector sighed in relief as he dusted himself off. "That was a close one."

With Espio, the purple chameleon and the last Space Pirate seemed to be evenly matched. Every time these two would attack each other, it would either end up dodging each other moves or countering them. The Space Pirate fired shots from it's Galvanic Cannon at Espio, but the purple chameleon quickly cartwheeled out of the way to avoid it. Espio returned the favor by throwing multiple shurikens at the Space Pirate. But like with Espio, the Space Pirate jumped to the side to avoid it. The Space Pirate charged after Espio with it's scythe. Espio narrowed his eyes as he quickly camouflaged itself, causing the Space Pirate to stop itself in it's tracks.

The Space Pirate looked around, trying to figure out what happened to Espio. He unknowingly did not see Espio pulling out some sort of paper with Japanese writing on it. Very quickly, the camouflaged Espio attached the strip of paper on the back of the head of the Space Pirate. The alien figure quickly turned around, but only to see nothing there. The Space Pirate looked around, trying to find where Espio had gone to. Behind him, Espio reformed himself in the flesh.

"This battle is over." Espio simply stated.

On that note, an explosion was made by the strip of paper. The Space Pirate flew forwards, over Espio, and crashed head-first into the metal wall with a sickening crunch. The Space Pirate was already dead at that time.

Our heroes looked around at the pile of Space Pirate corpses. To the Chaotix, these creatures were a lot tougher than they thought. But to Samus, it had looked like she had seen these things before.

"I don't know about you, but those Space Pirates were pretty tought." Vector stated.

Espio looked over at Samus, who continued to look at the dead pile of Space Pirates that laid on the ground. "Samus, are you OK?"

Samus didn't say anything back. She was mixed with confusion and surprise. "This doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't make sense?" Charmy asked.

"These Space Pirates. Why would they be here?" Samus wondered.

"Wait, you mean you've seen these things before?" Vector asked.

"...Yes." Samus replied. "But what I'm confused is to why they would show up here at some tower." The bounty hunter thought about it for a moment. It then suddenly dawned on her. "...Meta Ridley."

"Meta Ridley?" Espio raised an eyebrow.

Samus didn't reply back. Instead, she turned the other way. "Let's keep going. We need to find the Chaos Emerald."

The Chaotix was confused by Samus' statement. But she was right in they needed to find the Chaos Emerald as soon as possible. They decided to continue forwards and worry about Samus' statement for later.

* * *

It took a few more minutes until our heroes reached a clearing. They noticed something up ahead of them.

"Hey!" Charmy exclaimed. "That's the..."

"Chaos Emerald." Espio finished.

That's right. In the middle of this room, there was a silver Chaos Emerald standing securely on top of a pillar.

"Let's go get it!" Charmy said as he was about to go over to the Chaos Emerald before Vector held him back.

"Hold up a minute, Charmy!" Vector told him. "Hmm...something doesn't look right here. It looks very suspicious."

"It might very well be a trap." Espio thought.

"If it is a trap..." Samus got her arm cannon ready. "Then we blast on our way through."

Before she could take two steps towards the Chaos Emerald, a crashing sound was made, destroying a part of the wall from the other side in where our heroes were standing.

"What is that?!" Vector asked with wide eyes.

The answer of his question became clear as we see three figures entering through the smoke. When it died down, it was revealed to be Dr. Eggman, whom was in his Egg Mobile. And alongside him were his two robot assistants; Decoe and Bocoe.

Espio narrowed his eyes at the villanous trio. "Eggman."

"Well, well, what have we here? It's the Chaotix...and of course, Samus Aran." Eggman said smoothly.

"What do you want, Doctor?!" Vector demanded.

"What else? I'm here for that Chaos Emerald, of course." Eggman replied with a grin.

"We knew there was going to be a Chaos Emerald here. But who knew that you guys would show up?" Decoe said.

"The chances of that happening our slim to none." Bocoe added.

The two robots laughed as Samus spoke next. "Are you here to lecture us on how great you are before you send another one of your bad robots?"

Eggman narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you taking me for a fool? I would be careful, if I were you."

"Why would you say that?" Samus asked, not looking amused.

"Because..." Eggman grinned again. "After our last encounter, I decided to step-up my creativity a bit. And I have the perfect weapon capable of handling you."

"Try me." Samus challenged.

"Very well. You asked for it." Eggman turned to his assistants. "Decoe, Bocoe. Bring it in!"

"Yes sir!" The two robots nodded. "Come on out!"

A couple of moments passed, as Samus and the Chaotix got into a stance. After a couple moments of waiting, our heroes eyes widened at what they saw.

"Hey, isn't that..." Vector paused in mid-sentence.

Samus was the one that was shocked out of them all. What she was seeing was a duplicate clone of herself. Standing at Eggman's side, was another Samus Aran...well, sort of. It was made out of machine. Probably by Dr. Eggman himself. Instead of an orange body, she was seeing a white power suit along with a red visor.

"I want you to say hello to probably one of my greatest creations I have made; Egg Samus!"

Samus mostly stunned at what she was seeing, but she remained calm and kept her composure. "Is that suppose to intimidate me?"

"Well, I suppose it was my original intention. But I figured that would be too easy." Eggman explained. "And if you think for a second that it's nothing compared to you, I'm afraid you are dearly mistaken. For you see, after entered my base and destroyed most of my robots, I was able to get your data thanks to the security cameras. After much hard work, I had created Egg Samus. Who has the same weapons, abilities, and movements as you. And..." Eggman chuckled lowly. "I have added a couple of special features as well."

"And what would they be?" Espio questioned.

"Patience, Espio. You will learn those in due time." Eggman told him. "But now, I must get that Chaos Emerald. So if you stand in my way, Egg Samus will show you no mercy!"

Samus and the Chaotix got themselves ready. It looked like they were about ready to fight this duplicate of Samus Aran at any moment now.

Suddenly, another crashed was heard from another part of the wall that was also taken down. Everyone turned in that direction to see this.

"Now what's going on?" Vector asked.

"It might be Space Pirates." Espio thought. "Be on your guard!"

Eggman narrowed his eyes at what he was seeing. Just what made that crashing sound? Decoe and Bocoe narrowed their eyes, trying to get a better look for themselves.

Entering the room, were two familiar figures. These were Saladan the Tiger and Iriama the Shark.

Vector's eyes widened. "It's you! Your that tiger we saw back at Wild Canyon!"

Saladan chuckled to himself. "I'm honored that you remember me."

"But who that other guy?" Charmy wondered.

"I don't think we properly introduced ourselves. My name is Iriama. Pleasure to meet ya, mate." The blue shark greeted with his sharp teeth.

"What are you doing here, then?" Espio questioned.

"We're here for the same reason as you. The Chaos Emerald." Saladan replied.

"Hey!" Decoe pointed his finger at the brown tiger. "You can't barge in here and take what's ours!"

"Unless you came here on your own, you came in at a bad time!" Bocoe added.

Iriama chuckled a couple of times. "Whoever said that we came here alone?"

Samus raised an eyebrow. "So it isn't just you two?"

"That's right." Saladan replied. "And I think it's time we introduce you to him now."

A few seconds passed until another figure approached the scene with Saladan and Iriama. It turned out to be the Shredder. The one who crashed the dance party last night, injured a few of our other heroes, and took a Chaos Emerald as well. The Shredder looked around at the people that were in the room.

"So I see that we have more company than usual." Shredder said with interest. "How interesting."

"And who are you suppose to be?" Vector questioned him.

"I am known as the Shredder! And I'm here to take the Chaos Emerald. And anyone who gets in the way who perish at my hands!"

"You hear that? So unless you don't want to die, you might as well back off and let us take the Chaos Emerald." Iriama warned them with a smirk.

"Hmph!" Eggman grunted. "Do you think I will easily give in to your words? I am known as the greatest scientific evil genius of all time, Dr. Eggman! Nobody tells me what to do."

Shredder chuckled in amusement. "Really? Do you want to say that to my face, then?"

Eggman was about to do just that until Decoe and Bocoe stepped in.

"Doctor, for once, don't do this." Decoe said.

"I agree. That guy sounds like business." Bocoe added.

Eggman narrowed his eyes at Shredder. And then he looked over at Samus. "So, it looks like only one of us will get that Chaos Emerald, then."

All three groups stayed in their spots. Not moving. They waited to see who would make the first move towards the Chaos Emerald. They all eyed each other in silence. It would look like that whoever made the first move, things would turn out ugly afterwards.

Suddenly, something appeared at the pillar of the Chaos Emerald. It was the masked cybernetic ninja from before. Everyone's eyes widened at this.

"It's you!" Espio exclaimed.

"It's that masked person!" Decoe exclaimed.

"What's it doing here?!" Bocoe asked.

Shredder narrowed his red eyes. "What is the meaning of this?"

The masked ninja looked around at everyone that was in the room while holding it's katana. It's feet were standing on the pillar right where the Chaos Emerald was with perfect footing. It looked over to see Espio. "It's you again. Are you still holding on to that Chaos Emerald?"

Espio slowly pulled out the green Chaos Emerald from an unknown pocket of his. "It's right here. Just to let you know."

"Good." The masked ninja replied with it's cybernetic voice. "Knowing this, I don't have to worry then."

"Hey!" Iriama shouted at the masked figure. "Just who do you think you are, mate?!"

The masked ninja turned to the blue shark. "I'm like you. I'm also searching for something important." It then looked down at the Chaos Emerald near it's feet. "And it looks like I've already found it."

Without warning, the masked ninja back-flipped in the air while gripping it's katana. With one quick slice, the pillar was cut in two. The Chaos Emerald was free from it's secure place as it was about to fall to the ground. The masked ninja, however, was quickly enough to reach the emerald and catch it in it's hand.

Shredder wasn't going to let this go by. "Stop him!"

Iriama was going to do just that. "Gigas Spark!"

The masked ninja turned it's head to see the electricity from Iriama's mouth being fired at him. However, it wasn't taken back by this at all. The masked ninja disappeared in thin air as the electric attack passed through nothingness.

"What the?" Iriama was taken back by this. "Where did it go?"

Everyone looked around to see where the masked ninja had gone to. Up in mid-air, the masked ninja looked to be floating as it something very unexpected. The masked ninja raised it's katana in the air as quick flashes of itself seemed to be attacking the walls of the room without it doing anything. After a moment of this, the masked ninja raised the Chaos Emerald in the air.

"Chaos Control!" The masked ninja shouted as a bright flash of light engulfed the ninja until it had died down. When it did, the masked ninja was gone.

Everyone was confused at what they just saw.

"What just happened?" Charmy wondered.

"I'm not sure..." Samus replied slowly.

Suddenly, a rumbling sound was made as the tower shook itself. Everyone was trying to gain their footing from this rumbling.

"What's going on?!" Vector asked shakily.

"The tower...it's going to collapse!" Samus noted.

"What?!" Charmy and Vector shouted at the same time.

"We need to get out of here. Now!" Espio told them.

"Right." Samus nodded. "Follow me!"

Samus led the Chaotix out of the room, as they followed the bounty hunter out of the tower.

"Stop!" Shredder shouted. But it was already too late.

"Uh, Shredder, we need to get out of here. Like, right now, mate!" Iriama advised quickly.

"Do not tell me what we should do!" Shredder shouted at Iriama.

"Iriama's right." Saladan said. "If we don't get out of here now, we're going to be caved in."

Shredder thought about it for a brief moment before speaking up. "Fine. Let's go."

"I'll get us out of here." Saladan said as he raised his scythe in the air. Dark energy surrounded the sharp end of his weapon as he swinged it vertically, creating a dark portal. "Let's go."

Shredder quickly went inside the portal, Iriama followed after him, while Saladan was in the back as he entered last. The dark portal soon closed itself.

Dr. Eggman looked around at the place that was going to collapse.

"Dr. Eggman, we need to get out of here, too!" Decoe told him.

"Yeah! It would be bad if we don't!" Bocoe nodded quickly.

Eggman stayed in silence for a moment longer. "Let's go. Egg Samus; you too!"

Quickly heeding his words, Eggman, Decoe, Bocoe, and Egg Samus quickly made their way back to where they came from as they exited the tower.

* * *

**- Prison Island -**

Our heroes were quickly running from the scene of the collapsing tower. They were quickly making their way towards Samus' ship.

"How much farther is it?!" Vector asked.

Samus kept her eyes focused on ahead at the path ahead. That's when she saw something in the distance. "There!"

Our heroes soon came to a clearing. It was the Samus' ship. Trying to step it up, our heroes ran a little faster than usual.

When they were close enough, Samus somersaulted in the air and landed at the top of her ship. Espio quickly did the same thing, while Vector was quickly climbing upwards until he reached his footing. All four of our heroes entered inside the ship as Samus got a hold of the controls.

"Hold on!" Samus told them.

The ship began to change it's rocket boosters, as the ship began to quickly fly away from the scene of destruction. Our heroes turned to see the tower as it continued falling to it's doom.

"Man...I didn't think something like that could happen." Vector said with a sigh of relief.

"Good thing we got out of there in time. Otherwise, we all could've been turned into pancakes." Charmy pointed out.

"Are you all right, Espio?" Samus asked.

"...Yeah. I'm OK." Espio replied quickly. But to himself, his thoughts were focused on that cybernetic masked ninja. Just who was it and why did it need the Chaos Emeralds? Those questions clouded over Espio's mind as the ship began to head back towards Chaotix Headquarters.

Back on the island, we could see the masked ninja stood at a lone part of the island, away from where the tower had collapsed. It watched Samus' ship fly away as it held the silver Chaos Emerald in it's hand.

"Soon, my friend." The masked ninja spoke. "That Chaos Emerald of yours will be mine." With those words said, the masked ninja jumped into the air before disappearing in a blurry flash.

* * *

**More questions appear before our heroes eyes. What did Samus mention about Meta Ridley and those Space Pirates? Why were they hiding at an unknown tower in Prison Island? And what is this masked ninjas goal that involves the Chaos Emeralds? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	15. Inside Darkness

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Shredder © Mirage

Chapter Fifteen: Inside Darkness

**- Tails Workshop -**

The scene shifts towards Tails Workshop in the Mystic Ruins. It had been two hours since leaving the hospital where Rouge was currently being taken care of while Shadow was visiting her.

Inside the workshop, we could see our heroes of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. Tails was working something on his computer, Sonic was busy enjoying some chili dogs, Knuckles just relaxed himself against a wall, and Amy was sitting next to Sonic while watching Tails.

"Any luck yet, Tails?" Amy asked.

"Not yet." Tails answered. "I've been trying to figure out who or what this masked person is about, but so far, I have no luck."

Sonic gulped down another bite of his chili dog. "Well, keep trying buddy. I'm sure you'll find something."

"Thanks, Sonic." Tails smiled before continuing with his work.

As Sonic was about eat another chili dog, he looked over at Knuckles, whom had his eyes closed and his arms crossed. "Knuckles, are you all right?"

Knuckles opened his eyes and looked over at Sonic. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason. It's just that you haven't said much since we left the hospital." Sonic replied.

"Oh, that. I was just thinking about those necklaces." Knuckles replied.

"You mean the ones Shadow explained about?" Amy wondered.

"Yeah." Knuckles nodded once. "He said that that there were seven necklaces that these druids keep going after. Four have been discovered already. Now we need to figure out where the last three are."

"But how do we start looking?" Tails asked, as he turned to the group. "They could be anywhere."

"We don't even know how to find these things." Sonic added. "Unless we had a source, we might have a chance to actually find out where these things are located."

As the group was thinking about this, a knock was heard on the door.

"I'll get it!" Amy said, as she approached the door and opened it. Hey eyes raised in confusion. "Jet?"

Outside the door were the Babylon Rogues. And Jet was holding something in his hand.

"I think we have a special delivery for you guys." Jet said, as he held up the blue necklace in the air.

Our heroes eyes widened as the three birds made their way inside the door. Sonic got a closer look at this. "Where did you get it?" The blue hedgehog asked.

"Believe it or not, we ran into Team Rockers." Wave answered.

"And they were the ones that were holding the necklace." Storm answered.

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Did they tell you where they got the necklace?"

"We found them at Twinkle Park while we were looking around the place." Wave explained. "We told them about what has been going on the past several days, and they said that they would give the necklace to us. But only if we beat them in a race."

"And did you win?" Amy asked.

"Sure did." Jet grinned. "And seeing as how you guys need these necklaces more, we'll let you hold on to it."

Jet tossed the necklace over to Sonic, whom caught it in his hands.

"Now that we have another necklace with us, there's only two more to find." Tails said.

"But it could be difficult to find them." Amy thought. "Like Tails said before, these necklaces could be anywhere."

"Eh, not really." Jet shrugged. "You just have to keep your head on straight and not to lose sight of anything that you see."

'Yeah. It looks like that makes me smarter then you, you red punk." Storm chuckled.

That hit a nerve in Knuckles head as he narrowed his eyes at Storm. "You want to say that to my face?"

"With pleasure." Storm said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Guys, knock it off!" Tails shouted at them. They eventually calmed down as Tails sighed in relief. "Anyway, we need to figure out a way to find out where the last two necklaces are located."

"Any ideas, then?" Knuckles wondered.

"Hmm..." Tails thought about it for a moment. "Well, I'm not exactly sure. But I was thinking we could fly over to Rio Salaz and visit Louise and the others. Maybe we can get some more information from them."

Sonic smirked at that idea. "Now I like the sound of that. Besides, we've never been there before. So I guess it's a first time for everything, right?"

"Right." Tails nodded. "We can go right now, if you want."

"Sure. I'm for anything." Sonic replied. He turned to Amy and Knuckles. "You two want to come?"

"Count me in." Knuckles answered with a nod.

"Me too!" Amy smiled. "I've always wanted to see what their place looks like!"

"All right, then." Sonic then turned to the Babylon Rogues. "You guys want to come?"

"Nah." Jet shook his head. "We do things by ourselves."

"But if we do spot any more necklaces or any source of information, we'll let you know." Wave told them.

"And as payment..." Jet pointed his finger at Sonic. "You and I will have to race each other again. To prove who's really the fastest."

Sonic seemed to like those terms. "Gotcha!"

"Now we need to hit the road." Storm said as he and Knuckles shared one more glare before leaving the scene.

After the Babylon Rogues took off on their boards, as our heroes watched them go.

"There's always a price with those guys." Knuckles said with a non-amusement expression.

"Well, what did you expect?" Sonic asked.

"Nothing much, to be honest." Knuckles replied with a shrug.

"Forget them." Amy said with her smile. "They would be nothing but sticks in the mud, anyways."

"Your right." Sonic nodded. "Now Tails, shouldn't you be starting up the Tornado II?"

"Roger that!" Tails saluted as he headed towards the garage to start up his plane.

* * *

**- Rio Salaz -**

The scene shifts towards the Western ghost town. We scan towards the inside of the Saloon, where we could see our heroes inside resting themselves. On one table, we could see Louise, Marisa, Kyla, and Kera sitting together. Louise was sitting next to Kyla, as she was looking at her neck to see if it was doing all right.

"Can you speak clearly, Kyla?" Louise asked.

"Yeah." Kyla nodded. "It still feels little weak, but I'll heal."

"That's good to know." Kera said with her arms crossed. "That Shredder person did some major damage last night to the place and seriously hurt other people there."

"It was terrible." Marisa frowned. "Why would he do something like that?"

Thinking about what's been going on recently, Louise couldn't help but feel somewhat uneasy about herself. "I'm thinking that Sonic might be right. About how this Shredder is a part of the druids."

"Well, he did come in at an unexpected moment along with those druids. But it still took me by surprise." Marisa said.

"Me too." Kyla said, as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Maybe it was a little too close, though." She was trying to hard to forget when Shredder grasped at her neck with a hard grip, almost choking the life out of her.

"Well, at least no one was killed in the end." Samson said, as he was behind the bar while cleaning another mug. Larcen and Viola were sitting on separate stools. "That's the important thing. As long as everyone is all right, at least we all made it through, right?"

"Your right." Marisa nodded. "At least everyone is OK."

To himself, Larcen felt a little happy to hear this. As the girls over at the table continued to talk, Viola got up from her seat and approached Larcen. "Um...Larcen?"

The dark blue hedgehog was still feeling uncomfortable when Viola was around him. Ever since arriving at Rio Salaz, Larcen had this strange feeling when Viola was around here. It felt like there was something shady about her, but he could not get a good read on her. "...What is it?"

"Listen..." Viola lowered her eyes. "I know you don't like me when I'm around you. I don't know why that is, but I can tell you that I'm not a bad person. I only want to become friends with you guys. But...if you don't me around here, then just say so. I'll understand."

Larcen looked at Viola's lowered eyes. It sounded like she was speaking the truth, but he still wasn't sure whether or not he could trust her. Then again, maybe she was speaking true to her words and he was just overreacting. "You don't have to go."

"Hm?" Viola looked up at him.

"It's my fault. I haven't been actually open to you ever since you came here. I guess it's because I wasn't interested in meeting you at the time. But..." Larcen smiled. But just a little. "I guess I wouldn't mind being friends with you. That is, if your up to it."

Viola smiled and nodded. "Thanks. I'm glad to take that up." She then looked at his necklace. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What is it?" Larcen wondered.

"Where did you get that necklace?" Viola asked. "It looks really beautiful."

Larcen looked down at his necklace. "I got this on my 4th birthday from my mother. It was a little before she passed away, too."

"Oh..." Viola felt a little hurt. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"You mean my mother?" Larcen asked.

Viola nodded in return.

"It's all right." Larcen said reassuringly. "This belonged to my grandmother, or so my mom told me. She also told me that whenever I'm wearing this necklace, she said to me to always think of her."

Viola looked at the necklace with a sign of interest. "May I...feel it?"

"...Uh, sure. Just not too long." Larcen told her.

Viola reached out her hand and placed it on Larcen's necklace. She smoothed it really carefully and slowly so that she wouldn't damage it. After a moment of doing this, she finally let go. "Thank you very much."

"That's it?" Larcen raised an eyebrow.

"I know it's yours and how much it means to you, so I won't bother you with it all that much." Viola said.

"I see." Larcen said with a small smile. "I understand."

Viola nodded back with a smile of her own. Just then, Samson walked in between them from behind his bar.

"While you guys are now on good terms, what do you to say do a drink?" Samson asked with a grin.

"Sure." Larcen nodded once.

"I'm up for it." Viola added with a smile.

"Very good." Samson said as he prepared the drinks. It took a short few seconds until Samson gave each drink to Larcen and Viola. "Here you go, amigos."

The two accepted the drinks an appreciation. Viola looked over at Larcen, whom had started to take a sip at his drink. She smiled to see this and was glad to make-up with Larcen. It looked she and him would become good friends.

* * *

**- Unknown Location -**

The scene shifts towards the dark place, where we could see Saladan, Iriama, explaining to Xuan about what happened in their mission. The Shredder was standing next to Xuan while he listened.

"So, your saying this ninja popped out of nowhere?" Xuan asked calmly.

"I'm telling ya, mate! That guy just appeared right where the Chaos Emerald was." Iriama replied.

"And did you do anything to stop it?" Xuan raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah, but that guy disappeared right after I attacked." Iriama answered.

"It's movements were very strange." Saladan spoke up. "It did not look like an ordinary ninja."

"Were you able to get a good look at this ninjas face?" Xuan asked.

"I'm afraid not." Saladan shook his head. "It was wearing a mask, so we couldn't tell who that ninja was."

"And right at the end, it took the Chaos Emerald and who knows where this ninja person could be now. Maybe anywhere." Iriama shrugged.

Xuan closed his eyes while in his thoughts. "Hmm...this poses as a problem. First, you lost the necklaces back at Wild Canyon. And now, these heroes and ourselves have the same problem of this ninja. So far, only four emeralds have been revealed. "Two by this ninja, one from those heroes, and one in which the Shredder was able to get for us."

"That leaves only three." Shredder pointed out.

"Yes. It does." Xuan nodded once. "We need to figure out where this ninja is keeping the Chaos Emeralds before we can move on any further towards the remaining three."

"Why, though?" Iriama was confused. "Could we just locate the last three Chaos Emeralds before we deal with that ninja?"

"No." Xuan answered. "If we keep our attention on the last remaining Chaos Emeralds, there is a high chance that ninja will beat us to it."

Saladan hummed to himself about something. "There's something on my mind."

"What is it, mate?" Iriama asked.

"That ninja is after the Chaos Emeralds. The question is; why?"

Xuan let out a calm chuckle. "It matters not. Our main goal is to get the Chaos Emeralds. That is all that matters." The male human druid turned to the metal-masked warrior. "Shredder, I have a task for you."

"Yes?" Shredder was listening.

"I need you to locate this ninjas hideout and retrieve the Chaos Emeralds he has taken. If he gets in the way, kill him." Xuan told him.

"As you wish. But, what about that other Chaos Emerald that those heroes have?" Shredder asked.

"Once you take the Chaos Emeralds from that ninja, then you can focus on taking that other Emerald as well. And only then, will our goal be that much closer." Xuan answered with a smile.

"Very well." Shredder said. "Shall I leave immediately?"

"Yes. But before you do, take this Chaos Emerald." Xuan told him, as he pulled out a red Chaos Emerald and handed it to the Shredder, whom took it in acception. "Use this to find the other Chaos Emeralds. They attract to each other like magnets, so keep your eye one the emerald's energy readings."

"Very well. I shall hunt down the Chaos Emeralds for you." Shredder bowed before raising the emerald in the air. "Chaos Control!"

A bright flash of light engulfed the Shredder until it finally died down, in which he was gone too.

Iriama rubbed his head. "So what do we do now, mate?"

"The master wants to discuss something important with me. You two hang around here and I'll be back." Xuan said as he headed for the other door and opened it as he went inside before closing it behind him.

Inside the room, we could see another figure, but we don't know what it was. Xuan took a couple of steps forwards before stopping.

"You wanted to see me, master?" Xuan asked.

"...Yes." The figure replied. "I have just received word from our spy."

"Ah, so it worked." Xuan said with a clam smile on his face.

"Indeed it did." The figure added.

"Does that mean your going out there?" Xuan wondered

"...Yes. Since our spy has left a tracking signal on the object, it has been notified for my attention." The figure explained.

"Shall I get the preparations ready?" Xuan asked.

"Do so, Xuan. You are my most trusted confidant, after all." The figure answered.

"Very well." Xuan bowed. "I shall get ready. But...what about her?"

"...She will be no longer needed. Once I get what we need, she will be of no use to us." The figure slowly said.

"I see..." Xuan placed a hand on his chin. "Does that mean...we should kill her?"

"No. Let her live. She will realize it when it's already too late." The figure said.

"If that is your decision, I shall obey it." Xuan replied. "I need to prepare now. By your leave."

When Xuan left the room, we could see the figure's eyes widened. "Now...it is time for that necklace to be in my possession. We may have lost two already, but I will be the one to take it from it's weilder. And anyone who tries to get in the way shall be sent to the Netherworld."

* * *

**The leader of these druids will soon be revealed. What is it's main goal that involves the Chaos Emeralds and these necklaces? Will the Shredder be able to track down the stolen Chaos Emeralds? And which necklace is this figure going to after? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	16. Shades of Black

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Samus Aran © Nintendo

Chapter Sixteen: Shades of Black

**- Chaotix Detective Agency -**

The scene shifts towards the Chaotix Detective Agency. It had been two and a half hours since leaving Prison Island after the fall of that tower they were in. They were suppose to retrieve a Chaos Emerald, but that masked cybernetic ninja beat them to it. And our heroes weren't the only ones after it. Eggman and even the Shredder were after the Chaos Emerald, too. But like our heroes, the villains were unable to get the Chaos Emerald either.

Inside the main office, we could see our four heroes. Espio leaned back against a wall, Charmy was flying around the room, Vector was in his reclining chair while holding on to the green Chaos Emerald, and Samus was also sitting down in her orange tank-top, orange shorts, and orange boots.

"Man, talk about exciting back there!" Charmy said with a bit of hyper in his voice.

"I wouldn't know if I would call that exciting." Vector said otherwise. "I'd call it dangerous."

"That strange ninja was the one that caused that incident." Samus said. "And it also took the Chaos Emerald we were after."

"I don't know about you, but that ninja guy is very mysterious." Vector hummed in thought. "I wonder who it could be?"

"Beats me." Samus shrugged. "But what really concerns me were those Space Pirates."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" Vector exclaimed. "You said you knew about those things, didn't you?"

"Yes." Samus nodded. "Meta Ridley is known as the leader of the Space Pirates. Those things are experts on technology and combats skills."

"No kidding on the combat part." Charmy said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Those guys nearly creamed us."

"Luckily, we were able to fight them off." Vector said as he yawned lazily while relaxing himself. "I don't know if I can handle more of those Space Pirates."

Espio had been listening to the conversation so far. There was something about it that seemed odd to him. "Samus?"

"What is it?" Samus looked over at Espio.

Espio wasn't sure if he wanted to ask this question or not. But he decided to go with it anyways. "Is there...another reason why your after Meta Ridley? Besides being a bounty hunter, and all?"

When he asked that question, something in Samus' spine turned cold. She looked down at the ground with a pale look on her face. Vector and Charmy seemed to notice this.

"Hey Samus, are you OK?" Vector asked.

"Yeah...you look like you've been frozen." Charmy added.

Samus didn't say anything for a moment. She looked back up at everyone. "I rarely talk about this with anyone. Which is the reason why I do missions by myself. However, you guys are considered my friends. So...I guess, I can tell you a little about myself personally."

The Chaotix listened closely to Samus, as she began to tell her tale.

"I used to live on an Earth Colony called K-2L. I lived with my parents at the time, and I was only three years old then. We were happy at the time. Then one day, there was a race called the Chozo that to visit my parents and me." Samus explained.

"What were they like?" Vector asked.

"The Chozo? They were an ancient race of bird species. They were amazing people and I managed actually get attention of one of the elders. He was known as Old Bird. He and I talked and we grew a friendship together. I even called him grandpa." Samus smiled a little. But it soon faded away. "But then it happened."

"What did?" Espio asked.

"The Space Pirates. They invaded our home and killed everyone on it. That's when I first met the leader...Ridley." Samus said slowly.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock.

"Were you all right?" Vector asked nervously.

"Yes. I approached Ridley and asked him...if he wanted to be friends with me. He never answered me, though. Instead, he tried to kill me, but my mother rushed in, pushed me out of the way...and she was gone."

"Gone...wait, you mean...?" Charmy was puzzled by this.

"...She's dead. As is my father." Samus replied slowly.

Vector and Charmy felt sorry for Samus. Espio did too, but he kept a calm face the entire time.

"After my parents died, the Chozo took me in and raised me as their own. They put me through a lot of training and in time, I became more athletic and more experienced than regular humans. It almost sounds unnatural." Samus explained.

"Not really." Espio said. "A lot of things on this planet seem unnatural too. But it's to be expected."

"Yeah. Shadow being the Ultimate Life Form, Sonic running at incredible speeds, Tails learning about planes." Vector nodded. "Yeah. It's not really unnatural when you experience it."

"I guess so." Samus replied with her arms crossed. "From what I've come across, I don't think things are unnatural either. Like meeting you guys for the first time. I figured you would be monsters, but after seeing what you really do, you guys are practically harmless."

"Well, that's what you get when you meet the Chaotix." Vector said with a toothy grin.

Everyone agreed that despite things looking unnatural, it wasn't that bad once you reach the surface. You just have to dig into it and see for yourself.

After they were done talking, Vector got up from his seat. "OK guys, let's go search for the next Chaos Emerald!"

"Right." The three nodded as they all headed out of the office and towards Samus ship.

* * *

**- Rio Salaz -**

The scene shifts towards Rio Salaz. Outside the Saloon, we could see Marisa and Louise Harmon practicing magic together. Kera was training with her sword, as usual. While Viola, Samson, Larcen, and Kyla were relaxing under shade, near where the Saloon was.

Louise used her hands to cast a thunder spell in the air, with Marisa doing the same thing. Both of the thunder spells connected in the air at the same time, creating large sparkling flash.

"Good job, Marisa. Your getting a lot better at this." Louise smiled.

"Thanks." Marisa smiled back.

"Now, let's try something different..." Louise suggested.

As the two mages were practicing with each other, Kera looked over to see something that made her eyes go wide. "Guys, look!"

Everyone looked in the direction to see where Kera was looking at. Over at the entrance was Xuan Iakuda. The male druid was all by himself as he slowly made his way towards our heroes.

Our heroes had joined together to see this up close an personal.

"Who is that, Mom?" Marisa asked.

"I don't know, but...he might be the leader of the druids." Louise thought.

"Talk to him and see what happens.' Kera whispered.

Louise narrowed her eyes at him. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

Xuan stopped in his tracks as his calm smile appeared again. "I'm sorry for the rude intrusion. My name is Xuan Iakuda. And I'm here to pick up something."

"What sort of something?" Larcen narrowed his eyes at him.

Xuan looked to see the necklace that Larcen was wearing. "I'm here for that necklace."

"I thought so." Larcen pulled out his dagger. "You want to take this from me? You'll have to do so my force."

Xuan only chuckled in amusement. "Fine. But in order to do this, I need to call upon my master."

"Master...?" Louise didn't catch it at first, but then it suddenly dawned on her. "Wait, you mean-"

"Yes.' Xuan interrupted her. "My master was suppose to awaken one thousand years ago, but due to the Black Dragon's awakening, almost everyone was destroyed. But thanks to Laichion, the Black Dragon was sealed inside the Dragon Sword. Again it was awakened not too long ago, but thanks to you heroes, the Black Dragon was destroyed completely. And now, I think you will be the first ones to see the true Lord of Darkness."

Suddenly, the clouds above Rio Salaz turned dark and hazy. Xuan raised his arms in the air as immensely dark energy began to wave towards the clouds. When they struck the clouds, Xuan chanted something.

"I call upon the Lord of Darkness himself. My master, and the ones who will encase your hearts into the darkness forever! Come forth; Hellsing the Bat!" Xuan laughed insanely.

Up in the clouds, a dark lightning bolt struck the ground next to Xuan. Our heroes covered themselves from the dust that was flying past them.

"What's going on...?" Marisa asked slowly.

Viola almost flew backwards from the strong wind, but Samson caught her just in time.

"Don't worry, senorita Viola. I'll protect you." Samson told her with a slight grin.

Viola felt relieved to hear this as she held Samson tightly.

Kera opened her eyes a little to see what was going on. That's when she saw something else. "W-what is...that?"

When the dust started to clear and the clouds were back to normal, everyone saw a new figure in it's place. It was a black-colored bat. It had red eyes, it's ears had a hint of white color on the inside, short black claws on it's hands, and a couple of jewel-like objects on the palm of it's hands. It was wearing a black trench-coat, black boots, a black hat, and also had a violet sword on it's back.

Our heroes were in awe at what they were seeing.

"Say hello to Hellsing! My master and the one that will engulf the world into darkness!" Xuan laughed again.

Kera overheard something he had said before. Lord of Darkness? Was this what her father, Ganel, mentioned in his story with her many years ago?

Hellsing looked at our heroes with his eyes. "Is this all there is?"

"Yes, my lord." Xuan said. "What do you wish to do?"

Hellsing kept looking until he saw something that caught his eyes. It was the green necklace Larcen was wearing. "Is that your necklace?"

Larcen noticed that the bat was talking to him. "Yes. I am. What about it?"

"It's just that you wear one of the necklaces worn by one of the seven Dragon Lords." Hellsing replied. "It could be possible that you are one of them."

"Huh?" Kyla raised an eyebrow. "What is he talking about?"

Hellsing glanced over to see Kyla wearing the purple necklace. "And you are also wearing another necklace by one of the other seven Dragon Lords. Are you, by chance, the one that is filled with darkness and hatred?"

"What do you mean?" Kyla raised an eyebrow.

Hellsing had a slight look of confusion. "Your telling me you have no knowledge of the seven legendary Dragon Lords?"

"Listen..." Kera approached Hellsing with her sword in hand. "I don't know why your here or maybe it's just because you want to confuse my friends. But if your here for necklaces, your not taking them under our watch!"

Hellsing noticed the Dragon Sword the purple hedgehog was carrying. "Your carrying the Dragon Sword?"

Kera narrowed her eyes at him. "My father was once a great swordsman himself. And I intend to carry on his legacy within my blood!"

Hellsing studied Kera carefully. "I see you are determined on that goal. Some would go so far as to overdue their goals. However, you are taking it one step at a time. Very cautious, very careful."

Kera said nothing as she changed the topic. "Well, what now?"

Hellsing looked over at Xuan. "Did you tell them?"

"I did." Xuan bowed. "It's your turn, master."

Hellsing looked over at Larcen. "Blue hedgehog."

"What?" Larcen narrowed his eyes at him.

"I challenge you to a fight. One on one. If you win, I will leave. If I win, I take your necklace." Hellsing stated.

"That's it?" Larcen asked a bit.

"That's it." Hellsing replied. "What will it be?"

Before Larcen could answer, Marisa got in front of him. "Larcen!"

Larcen raised an eyebrow at Marisa, while Hellsing's reaction did not change. "Marisa?"

"Larcen, you don't have to do this. We can fight him together." Marisa told him.

Larcen didn't think about that until just now. Instead of facing this bat by himself, Larcen and his friends would be more than enough to fight Hellsing.

Hellsing darted his eyes at the human girl. In one quick motion, his wings spread apart and flew straight towards Marisa.

Larcen's eyes widened. "Marisa! Look out!"

Marisa turned around, but only to see Hellsing stop before creating dark energy within his fists as he punched at Marisa's gut, followed by a punch to her chest, and then came two punches to her faces, and then followed up by striking her in the gut again. The force of these blows sent Marisa flying backwards as she landed on her back with a loud yell of pain.

"MARISA!" Everyone, except Viola, shouted in horror.

Marisa groaned in pain as Hellsing landed on the ground while pulling out his sword. "Do not interfere, mortal. And to make sure you don't, I'll send you to the Netherworld." Hellsing raised his sword in the air and prepared to strike down at Marisa.

"Stop!" Louise shouted at him. "You harm my daughter and I swear I will kill you!"

Hellsing turned to the older sage. Her words seemed to attract the attention of her. His eyes glanced back at the downed Marisa. "Is she your only child?"

"...Y-yes." Louise narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't even try to hurt her anymore."

Hellsing, for some reason, seemed to listened to Louise's words as he sheathed his sword behind his back. "In that case, I will not harm her. I cannot send a parent's only child to the Netherworld at a young age."

"The Netherworld...?" Samson raised an eyebrow.

"Hey." Larcen called out.

Hellsing turned towards Larcen, whom stood there patiently. "I take it your going to take up my challenge?"

"Sure. And besides, I'm going to have to beat you senseless and make sure that you don't harm Marisa ever again." Larcen told him as he got into a fighting stance. "Come and get some."

Hellsing stared at Larcen for a moment longer before taking off his hat and handed over to Xuan, who came by and took it from him. Hellsing approached Larcen until he was a few feet away from him. "Have at it."

Larcen got that signal as the fight has started. Larcen swinged his right fist at Hellsing, but the bat easily side-stepped out of the way to avoid the blow. Hellsing countered back with a blow to the back of the head of Larcen with his elbow. Larcen fell to the ground after getting hit by that hard shot to the back of the head. Larcen was able to get back on his feet as Hellsing raised his foot and was about to kick Larcen's mid-section. However, Larcen was able to move out of the way in time as he punched Hellsing straight in the back, causing Hellsing to stagger forwards a couple of steps, but was able to regain his footing.

Hellsing turned back around to see Larcen punching the bat in the face, followed by a quickly blow to the stomach. As Larcen was about to go for another punch to the face, Hellsing was able to grab his arm and throw him over his shoulder, where Larcen fell hard on his back. The dark blue hedgehog saw black claws that were about to claw his face, but he quickly rolled out of the way just before the claws could get him. Larcen springed to his feet as he quickly went for another punch to Hellsing's stomach. Hellsing gripped his stomach from pain as Larcen leg-sweeped him off his feet, knocking Hellsing on his back.

Larcen was about to stomp Hellsing on his stomach, but Hellsing managed to catch his foot in time before it could happen. Larcen tried pushing down, but Hellsing was able to push him backwards as Larcen staggered backwards a couple of steps before regaining his footing. Hellsing got back to his feet as he used his wings to spread out and speed towards Larcen at a fast pace. He was able to punch Larcen in the stomach as the dark blue hedgehog took the blow. But Hellsing wasn't done as he punched Larcen in the face a few times before punching him in the gut with full force, knocking Larcen off his feet as he landed on his back again.

"Larcen!" Marisa cried out.

Larcen slowly got back to his feet as he wiped away some blood from his lip. He glared at Hellsing as the bat only watched him.

"You are strong, hedgehog." Hellsing commented.

"So are you." Larcen nodded back.

"Perhaps we should make this fight more interesting." Hellsing suggested as he unsheathed his sword from his back.

"So you resort to using a weapon?" Larcen questioned while panting a little.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Hellsing asked.

"Nah. Not at all." Larcen shook his head as he pulled out his dagger.

Hellsing raised an eyebrow, as if to be amused. "You expect to fight me with that toy?"

"Looks can be deceiving." Larcen informed him. "Besides, it only makes things more interesting."

"...Very well. Have at you, then." Hellsing challenged.

Larcen charged after Hellsing with his dagger as the bat shielded himself with his sword. The smaller weapon clashed with the bigger weapon, as Larcen continued striking at the defensive Hellsing. The bat wasn't moving backwards as Larcen kept striking at his sword with his dagger. This went on for another moment before Larcen got tired of that. Hellsing decided to swing his weapon at Larcen's head, but the dark blue hedgehog was able to move out of the way in time. When the sword missed it's target, Larcen decided to strike at him again with his dagger. However, Hellsing was able to side-step out of the way in time before Larcen could get him.

When Larcen missed, Hellsing used his left hand to strike at Larcen's back. This blow caused Larcen to stagger forwards, but like before, Larcen was able to regain his footing. Larcen turned around to see Hellsing was about to strike at him again, but Larcen was able to cartwheel to the side to avoid the sword strike. Larcen quickly decided to attack Hellsing again with his dagger. This time, the weapon was able to slice at Hellsing's torso. The bat gripped his stomach in pain as Larcen was able to punch his face with a hard strike. But he wasn't done there, Larcen was quickly punching his face more and more times as his necklace began to glow.

Thanks to his necklace, Larcen was able to strike quicker and faster than usual. Hellsing was trying to fight back, but with the fast strikes of Larcen, he couldn't pull that off. When Larcen stopped with his repeated attacks, Larcen wounded up his fist and striked Hellsing in the face again with full force. This was more than enough to knock Hellsing off his feet as he was sent flying backwards a few feet away as he rolled onto the ground in pain until he stopped.

"Way to go, Larcen!" Kyla cheered.

Marisa felt relieved to see that Larcen was winning the fight. Now she could only wonder how it would end?

Xuan looked concerned for Hellsing. "Master, are you all right?"

Somehow, Hellsing was able to get back to his feet, despite the harsh beating that he just received. Larcen looked kind of surprised.

"Your still wanting to fight?" Larcen questioned.

Hellsing only stared at Larcen. "It's not over until the last one if standing."

"Fine. I'm just getting into this already." Larcen's necklace glowed brighly again.

Hellsing could see the green energy that was surrounding Larcen. "It seems that he might have potential to be one of the Dragon Lords..." He thought to himself.

At a sudden moment, Larcen decided to charge after Hellsing at a fast rate. Hellsing wasn't going to be fooled again as he quickly side-stepped out of the way, in which Larcen actually missed his target. As Larcen was about to turn around his eyes suddenly turned wide-eyed as a horrible sound was just made.

Everyone's eyes widened in horror at what they were seeing.

"Oh my..." Louise covered her mouth in disbelief.

"No..." Kera couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Tell me...tell me I'm not just seeing this right now...!" Kyla said with a shaky voice.

"Senor Larcen..." Samson had the same feeling as Kera.

Even Viola was shocked at what she was seeing.

But out of everyone, Marisa was the one that seemed shocked out of them all. "Larcen...?"

We could see that there was something protruding through Larcen's body. It was Hellsing's sword, as just a moment ago, it had impaled Larcen through the stomach. Hellsing turned in the direction of Larcen's friends as he swiftly pulled the sword out of Larcen's stomach. The dark blue hedgehog slowly staggered forwards until he dropped towards the ground.

"Larcen!" Marisa cried out as she ran over to her fallen best friend. She looked to see that blood was slowly pouring out of his stomach. "Larcen, are you all right?! Please say something!"

Hellsing slowly sheathed his sword back as Xuan approached Marisa and the fallen Larcen.

Marisa looked up at him. It looked like she was about ready to cry. "What do you want...?"

"Your friend has fallen. As a part of the challenge, you must hand over the necklace to us. Immediately." Xuan replied.

Marisa held Larcen close to her. The human mage girl narrowed her eyes at him. "Forget it!"

"I beg your pardon?" Xuan raised an eyebrow.

"I don't care about your stupid contest!" Marisa fired at him. "What happened just now was completely monstrous and unforgivable! I don't know why you would use evil tactics like this, but this just isn't the way to get something that you want!" Marisa's voice was getting rougher. "Just back off! NOW!"

Xuan seemed a bit taken back by her words, but he remained calm and smiled. "I'm sorry this had to come to this. But if you don't give us what we need, then I'll let my master kill you too."

Marisa shielded Larcen with everything she got. "I'm not going to let you do this!"

Xuan shrugged while smiling. "Fine. Have it your way. Master?"

Hellsing approached the two as he was about to pull his sword out.

Kyla's eyes widenend. "We have to stop him!"

Louise was just about to do that, but then she noticed something strange. "Kera?"

Kera's face was lowered. We could see a single tear drop from her eye. When it dropped to the ground, she looked up at Hellsing with a glare of hatred in her eyes. Her sword was gripped tightly.

Suddenly, Kyla's necklace was starting to glow. Everyone seemed to notice this. Even Hellsing and Xuan stopped to look.

"Senorita Kyla?" Samson raised an eyebrow. "Why is your necklace glowing?"

"I don't know..." Kyla replied with confusion. "I haven't done anything."

Suddenly, dark energy from the necklace started to flow towards Kera as it surrounded the purple hedgehog's Dragon Sword. Kera's eyes started to turn red as she loud a loud scream. The dark energy from Kyla's necklace started to form something above Kera. The energy created a familiar spirit being from before.

Xuan's eyes widened at what he was seeing. "No...t-that's...!"

Hellsing was also seeing the same thing. "The Black Dragon. Or the spirit of it, to be exact."

That's right. The dark spirit turned out to the the Black Dragon. The same one that was defeated seven months ago by our heroes. The Black Dragon spirit glared at Hellsing and Xuan with hatred as it let out a loud roar. Kera let raised her sword in the air as the Black Dragon began to form up dark fire breath from within it's mouth.

Xuan turned to Hellsing. "M-master, what do we do?"

"...We leave. Immediately." Hellsing said slowly.

"Yes sir." Xuan bowed as he quickly began to create a dark portal with his hands. When he had created the portal, Xuan gestured Hellsing to head inside it. "Let's go, Master! Hurry!"

Hellsing walked inside the portal as Xuan, himself, made his way afterwards. And at that moment, Kera pointed her sword forwards as the Black Dragon blew out dark fire breath at the portal. But unfortunately, the portal had already closed itself by the time the dark fire breath was aiming towards it.

And then, the spirit of the Black Dragon had slowly started to turn back into it's dark energy as it returned to Kyla's necklace. Kera let out a slight moan as she dropped to her knees.

"Kera!" Louise shouted. "Kera, are you all right?"

Kera turned to Louise with a small smile. "I-I'm fine. I'm just worn out is all..."

Louise felt relieved to hear this, but that changed when the others surrounded Marisa and the fallen Larcen.

Marisa's eyes were filled with tears as she saw Larcen, whom was still not moving. "L-Larcen! Please wake up!"

Surprisingly, Larcen slowly opened his eyes as he looked up at the sad Marisa. "M...Marisa..."

"Larcen! Thank goodness your all right!" Marisa felt really relieved as her heart beated pretty fast. "Your wound...it's..."

"I know. It's...bad right?" Larcen asked weakly.

"No." Marisa quickly shook her head. "It's OK. I can save you. Just let me help you, all right?"

"Marisa...there's...something I've always wanted to say to you..." Larcen slowly said to her.

"Tell me later. Right now, I'm going to stop your bleeding and try to cover up that wound." Marisa told him.

"Marisa...I've...never told you this before...because I was afraid on how you would react..." Larcen replied weakly.

Marisa's ears perked up and heard this. "W-what do you mean?"

"I...I've...always...lo...you..." Larcen's eyes started to close as he froze.

Marisa's eyes widened in panic. "Larcen?!"

Marisa checked his pulse to see if he was all right. Her body turned cold the moment she did this. Louise leaned down to Marisa's level to see check Larcen's pulse as well. When she did this, a horrible feeling took over.

"Larcen...he's..." Louise trailed off as the others caught on to what she was saying.

Marisa slowly picked up Larcen until she was standing up. Marisa lowered her head as she turned around and ran off, holding Larcen in her arms.

"Marisa! Stop!" Lousie told her.

"No..." Samson held her back. "Let her go. I'm sure she wants to be alone with him for a while."

Our other heroes had a sad look on their faces. Kyla was beginning to cry silently, Kera turned the other way, Samson lowered his head as he took off his hand and placed it to his chest. Viola turned the other way as well as she started to cry by herself. Louise started to grow teary eyed but she wiped it away. Everyone knew what had just happened.

Larcen the Hedgehog was dead.

* * *

**A hero has fallen to the one behind this whole druid business. How will our heroes pull through here this hard moment? Where did Marisa run off too? And how will the Sonic Heroes react to this shocking tragic loss? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	17. Light of Darkness

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Samus Aran © Nintendo

Chapter Seventeen: Light of Darkness

**- Samus' Ship -**

The scene shifts towards Samus' ship. After revealing a little about her past, Samus and the Chaotix were already on the hunt for the next Chaos Emerald. Inside the ship, Samus was guiding our heroes towards wherever the next Chaos Emerald may be located. Thanks to the green Chaos Emerald Espio was holding, it wasn't going to be much of a problem.

Over here, we Vector was drinking another soda can as he let out a belch. "Excuse me."

"Don't drink too much, Vector." Espio told him. "We need to stay focused on our mission."

"I know that, Espio." Vector said as he patted his stomach. "I'm just warming up before we get started."

"But we don't even know where we're going." Charmy pointed out.

Samus turned her head to Charmy with a slight look of annoyance on her face. "What was that?"

"Oh..." Charmy smiled sheepishly. "I meant, we don't know where the next Chaos Emerald is, but I'm sure that we'll find it soon enough."

Samus sighed to herself as she turned her attention back to the controls.

Charmy sighed in relief. "I better go get myself a drink. I don't want to be thirsty before a mission."

As Charmy buzzed off towards the refrigerator, Espio had his eyes closed while in his thoughts. He was mainly thinking about that cybernetic masked ninja. It had appeared a couple of times already and no one had any clue as to who it was. They even didn't know what it's motives were for the Chaos Emeralds. It just seemed really strange to the purple chameleon, because that ninja and him felt like they knew each other. Or at least, that's what he thought. Then again, it didn't seem likely that would be the case. Only two things mattered to him; The masked ninjas identity, and it's reason for needing the Chaos Emeralds.

While silence filled the room, the Chaos Emerald began to glow brightly. Espio was the first to see this. "The Chaos Emerald is glowing!"

Charmy and Vector eyes widened at that moment.

"Cool! But where is it coming from?" Charmy wondered.

"Samus, can you pinpoint the Emerald's location?" Vector asked.

"Sure." Samus nodded as she pressed a few buttons on the control panel. That's when a hologram appeared on-screen. The Chaotix made their way towards the control panel to get a closer look at this.

"What is it?" Charmy wondered. "It looks like a house..."

"It's actually a mansion." Samus corrected him.

Samus was right. The hologram was showing a visual projection of a mansion that looked to be two-stories high. It's width was medium-sized, with four sets of windows on the first floor, while two were on the second floor. And there was a small-tower of some-sorts that kinda looked like a bell tower, only with no bell to be seen.

"So the Chaos Emerald is located there?" Vector wondered.

"It is." Espio said as he looked outside the window. "Look down there."

Vector, Charmy, and Samus looked outside the window to see a mansion that was similar to the one from the hologram. Espio looked at the Chaos Emerald again to see that it was still reacting towards the mansion.

"So now we need to head down there and find the Chaos Emerald inside that place." Samus said. "I'll land this ship near the place."

The ship lowered itself near the ground until the rockets boosters managed to stop the ship a few feet in mid-air. At the top, Samus and the Chaotix appeared again, as the bounty hunter somersaulted in the air until she landed on her feet, along with the Chaotix, whom also jumped down from Samus's ship.

When our heroes were on the ground, they looked at the mansion up close with their own eyes. It was mostly brown-designed color and nothing much else afterwards.

"Man, this place is pretty big." Vector said, looking a little impressed.

"I bet it will be even bigger than the outside is." Espio confirmed.

"The only way to find out is to head inside." Samus as she prepared her arm cannon. "You ready?"

"Ready!" Charmy saluted with a smile.

Vector and Espio nodded their heads in reply. When that was settled, Samus and the Chaotix made their way towards the mansion in search for the next Chaos Emerald.

* * *

**- Dusty Desert -**

The scene shifts towards Marisa, whom was still running with the recently killed Larcen the Hedgehog. Her face was still lowered and in tears after she saw her best friend being killed by Hellsing. She was in so much shock and sadness, that she just about exploded into tears. It had been five minutes so far, but Marisa continued to run.

She then approached something near the Dusty Desert. It was a small pond covered with a few small trees and some soft grass. Marisa saw this as she made her way towards that area. When she made it, she finally stopped and was busy trying to catch her breath. She looked over to see the nearest small tree as she walked towards it and very gently laid Larcen's corpse next to it. She looked at dead hedgehog on in sadness.

"L-Larcen..." Marisa sobbed. "...You didn't have to die...!"

She looked down at Larcen's wound and decided to the get the blood off as best as she could. She placed her hand near Larcen's body as a ray of small light flashed. The blood started to fade itself until it was fully gone.

But even when she did that, she still felt terribly sad. Her best friend for many years was dead. It was like her only source of light was taken away from her. By the darkness. The evil that came and took away what she loved most. It angered her on the inside, but on the outside, she felt crushed, heartbroken, to see her best friend dead. She turned and made her way towards the pond to see her sad reflection. It just...it just didn't feel right. Not at all. It felt like all the happiness and joy she felt had suddenly been flooded by sadness and tears. Nothing more would come from it.

Marisa shut her eyes tightly as another tear dropped from her eye as it made contact with the pond. She covered her eyes again as she continued to sob loudly. It felt like nothing was going to help her from her tragic loss. Not ever.

"Marisa?" A voice asked.

Marisa stopped crying for a moment to hear that something had just spoken to her. "Who's there? Whoever you are, leave me alone!"

"Marisa, it's us. Don't you remember?" Another voice asked.

Marisa looked around to see where the sources of the voice came from. She then saw something that made her eyes widen in surprise. "Silver? Blaze?"

She was right. Standing across from her were the two familiar figures. The white hedgehog from the future; Silver the Hedgehog. And the purple cat from another dimension; Blaze the Cat. The only slight difference was that they were also wearing necklaces. Silver was wearing a white necklace, while Blaze was wearing a red necklace.

"Are you all right, Marisa?" Blaze asked, noticing Marisa's sad look.

Marisa immediately shook her head. "No."

Silver noticed Larcen's body against the tree. "What's wrong with Larcen?"

"...He's dead." Marisa replied weakly.

Silver and Blaze's eyes widened in surprise. Larcen was dead?!

"What happened?" Silver asked.

Marisa gulped before answering. "He was killed. By a bat named Hellsing. He and a druid named Xuan came by and told us that they were after Larcen's necklace. We told them to leave, but Hellsing threw out a challenge and said that he wanted to challenge Larcen to a fight. At first, Larcen looked liked he was winning. And then from out of nowhere...he was impaled by Hellsing's sword." Marisa sadly said as she wiped some tears away from her eyes. "And because of this, I'm never going to see my best friend again."

Blaze and Silver looked at each other. To them, it seemed like they knew something about this. They nodded to each other once before turning to Marisa.

"I think we can save your friend." Silver told her.

Marisa's eyes widened. "R-Really?! You can bring Larcen back to life?"

"Yes." Blaze nodded.

"But how?" Marisa wondered.

"Where's Viola?" Silver questioned.

"Huh?" Marisa raised an eyebrow. "You know her?"

"That doesn't matter right now." Blaze replied. "Where is she?"

"She's with us in Rio Salaz." Marisa answered. "What do you need her for?"

"We'll let you know once we find her." Silver told her. "For now, though, let's head back there. Bring Larcen with you. We need him in order for this to work."

"A-All right..." Marisa nodded quickly as she went over to Larcen's corpse and gently picked him up in her arms. "Let's go, then."

With that said, the three heroes made their way back towards Rio Salaz with a slight hint of determination in their eyes.

* * *

**- Rio Salaz -**

Back with our heroes over in Rio Salaz, some were still mourning over Larcen's death. They were still very shocked and in disbelief at what they had just witnessed not too long ago. They were still standing in the middle of the pathway near where the Saloon was.

"I hope Marisa is OK. She's been gone for quite some time now." Kyla said with a frown.

"I can't really blame her. We're all going through a bad time right now." Kera said depressingly.

Samson sat down on the porch with Viola still feeling really bad about what just happened. The black swallow turned to see her looking sad.

"Are you all right, senorita Viola?" Samson asked her.

Viola didn't answer her. She was still too shocked at what just happened right in front of her eyes. She turned away, not wanting to look at him.

By her reaction, Samson must've sensed that Viola was still shocked by that tragic loss. It seemed like, to him, it was hitting her pretty hard. "It's OK. I'm here for you when you need me, all right?"

Viola seemed affected by Samson's words. But it seemed like there was something inside her that she wanted to get out of her mind. "Samson. There's...something that I have to tell you."

Samson raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Um...you see..."

But before Viola could say anything else, everyone heard buzzing coming from the sky.

Our heroes looked up to see what was making that sound. That's when Kyla saw it.

"Hey, isn't that...the Blue Tornado?" Kyla wondered, trying to get a closer look with her eyes.

Louise narrowed her eyes to see this. "I think it is. And I see Tails controlling the plane."

"I think they might be here to see us." Kera thought.

The plane flew downwards until it made a landing at the pathway. When it was in a good position, the engine stopped as our heroes of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose hopped out of the plane.

Sonic was the first to wave at the girls with a smile. "What's up?"

"Hey, Sonic!" Kyla waved at him.

"We never thought you would stop by for a visit." Kera told them.

"We promised we would stop by." Knuckles told them. "And here we are."

"What are you guys doing hanging around here?" Tails asked.

Everyone frowned again. The Sonic Heroes were confused by this.

"What is it?" Sonic wondered. "Did we say something wrong?"

Amy looked around at her surroundings. "And where's Larcen and Marisa?"

Louise lowered her head a bit. "Perhaps this is a bad time to say it, but..."

"But what?" Tails asked.

No one didn't say anything. They still felt shocked about those horrible turn of events.

Amy grew a little worried. "What's going on? Why won't anyone say anything?!"

"...Larcen was killed." Kera said slowly.

The Sonic Heroes eyes widened in shock and surprise.

"Larcen...was killed?!" Knuckles asked like they were crazy.

"No!" Amy shook her head . "Please tell me your joking!"

"We're not." Louise told them. "Larcen was killed and Marisa ran off with his dead body."

"Why?" Sonic asked.

"Maybe because she's still shocked and wants time alone with him. Marisa told me that he was her best friend in the whole world. And now, he's gone. And Marisa is very upset." Louise said with a hint of sadness.

Knuckles narrowed his eyes in anger. "Who did this?! Who killed him?!"

"It was...the real leader of the druids. He's known as Hellsing the Bat." Louise answered.

"The real leader of the druids? Is he the one that was after the necklace's?" Tails asked.

"Yes." Louise nodded. "He, and another druid named Xuan Iakuda, came by and challenged Larcen to a fight. So Hellsing and Larcen fought each other. And in the end...Larcen was killed." Louise felt sad about telling them this, but she still kept a straight face apon herself.

The Sonic Heroes now felt sad about hearing this news. Larcen was dead and everyone was feeling bad about it.

"Do you know where Marisa might be?" Sonic asked.

Louise shook her head. "No. And she has been gone for some time now. I was thinking about going after her and see where she might be."

"You mean like right there?" Knuckles pointed out.

Louise turned to see where Knuckles was pointing at. Her eyes widened at what she saw. "Marisa!"

"And it's Silver and Blaze!" Tails exclaimed.

Over here, we see Marisa, Silver, and Blaze making their way towards our other heroes. Marisa was still carrying Larcen's corpse as well.

"Marisa, are you all right?" Kera asked.

"I'm fine." Marisa answered.

Sonic and Silver met face to face again.

"It's been a while. Who knew we would see each other again?" Sonic asked with a smirk

"Odds are that it would happen." Silver answered.

Blaze looked around until she saw the female Lorikeet. "Viola!"

"Huh?" Viola looked up at the cat as she and Samson joined up with the rest of our heroes. "What is it? And how do you know my name?"

"Your the one responsible for Larcen's death." Silver said to her.

Samson widened his eyes in surprise. "What?!"

"How is that possible?" Kyla asked. "She didn't do anything wrong!"

"Wrong." Blaze shook her head. "She is a spy for Hellsing the Bat. She came here to this town to lay a signal on Larcen's necklace so that he would come here and take the necklace without warning."

"Hold on a second, amigos!" Samson stopped them. "You can't accuse of Viola like that! There's no proof of that whatsoever!"

"Why don't you ask her that?" Silver suggested.

Samson turned to Viola. "Senorita, are you...are you really working for these druids?"

Viola looked down at the ground in shame. She then turned the other way. "...Yes. I was trying to tell you that earlier before they showed up."

"They?" Marisa wondered.

"She meant Sonic and the others." Kyla corrected her.

Samson wasn't believing what he was hearing. "Senorita Viola...why? Why are you siding with those druids? Please, tell us."

Viola looked at everyone with a look of regret on her face. "To be honest...I never wanted this to happen. My only job was to give the signal so that Hellsing would come here and take the necklace. But..." Viola began to grow teary eyed. "When I saw him kill one of your friends, it literally crushed me on the inside. I had never seen death before. Not once."

"Why not?" Sonic wondered curiously.

"I don't know why. Maybe it's because I had never thought about it. I thought it was something that didn't really occur to me when I was growing up. But now that I saw it today...I realize that what I'm doing was wrong." Viola said lowly. "But I guess it's too late for that. It's my fault that your friend is gone."

Silver and Blaze looked at each other again. They nodded once before turning to the others. "There is a way we can bring him back to life."

Everyone's eyes perked open at this.

"Really?! How?!" Amy asked.

"From what Silver and Blaze told me, they said that we need Viola in order to do this." Marisa answered. "But why, exactly?"

"Viola, do you have the healing touch of Sacrifice?" Blaze asked her.

"Y-yes. I completely forgot about it! But wait, how did you know?" Viola wondered.

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "What's this healing touch of Sacrifice?"

"It's an ability that was given to me by Hellsing." Viola answered. "By touching a person's head, I'm able to restore life back into that person's weakened soul. But, there are two rules to this ability."

"And what are they?" Marisa asked.

"One: The magic of Sacrifice drains my body dramatically, which causes me to pass out. Which is a reason why I don't use it only if necessary. Two: I can only do Sacrifice if someone is alive. If they were severely weakened, I could use it. But if their dead, then I can't do it." Viola explained. "And since Larcen is dead, I can't use it."

"That isn't entirely true." Silver said.

Viola was confused. "What do you mean?"

Silver showed the white necklace that he was wearing. "This necklace has the power to restore a life to a dead. I want you to use your power so that you can make sure that his soul is all right."

"Will this work, though?" Tails asked. "It might be risky."

"Don't worry." Silver reassured him. "It will work."

"So, how do we do this?" Marisa asked.

"Lay Larcen down on the ground." Silver told her.

Doing what he said, Marisa gently laid Larcen on the ground. When she did that, Silver walked up next to the dark blue hedgehog. "Viola, stand across from me."

Viola nodded as she walked up to Larcen's body until she was right next to it. The white hedgehog and the rainbow-colored Lorikeet stared at each other eye to eye.

"Now I will activate my necklace's powers. When I give the nod, I want you to use the healing power of Sacrifice." Silver explained. "All right?"

Viola nodded a little nervously. She stood in a good position until she was comfortable.

Silver closed his eyes and concentrated. Nothing happened for a moment. Then suddenly, Silver's necklace started to glow brightly. And then, a ray of light energy formed over Silver's head as a new image took our heroes by surprise.

"That's another dragon!" Kyla pointed out.

"Another dragon?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"After Hellsing killed Larcen, my necklace started to glow. And then this weird dark energy came out of it and surrounded Kera's sword. Then there was a spirit of a black dragon that appeared above Kera." Kyla explained.

"But this wasn't an ordinary dragon. It was the Black Dragon." Louise confirmed.

The Sonic Heroes widened their eyes in surprise.

"The Black Dragon?!" Tails exclaimed.

"But we destroyed that thing months ago!" Knuckles shouted.

"As Kyla said, that was only a spirit. After Hellsing escaped, the spirit disappeared and the dark energy returned to Kyla's necklace." Louise added on.

"But how did that happen?" Sonic asked. "It's not to say that it was coincidence."

"Well..." Louise trailed off.

"Guys, look!" Kera pointed out.

The group stopped talking and looked to see a spirit of a white dragon appearing over Silver's head. Silver raised his hands forward as the white dragon's eyes flashed brightly. A ray of light was released from the dragon's eyes and shined on Larcen's body.

Viola watched on, waiting for the signal. Blaze looked on as Silver nodded his head. The purple cat turned to Viola.

"Now." Blaze told her.

Viola nodded as she closed her eyes and gently placed a hand on Larcen's head. A ray of red light flashed a little. Both of the anthros kept their focus, not letting anything distract them. Then a moment later, Larcen's body began to float back gently on the ground. The white dragon's spirit started fade into the light energy as it fully returned back to Silver's necklace.

At the same time, Viola's magic healing power of Sacrifice was already done with. As Viola started to go numb until she was about to fall on her back. That was, until Samson caught her just in time.

"Senorita Viola, are you all right?" Samson asked with concern.

"I-I'm fine..." Viola replied weakly. "Just tired is all..." And then, she fell into unconsciousness.

Samson felt that she was OK. Maybe it was because of what she mentioned earlier about her healing power of Sacrifice. Samson lifted Viola and held her in his arms so that she would have something to rest on.

Silver took some time to recover after using up some of the energy, while the others gathered around Larcen. Marisa was really anxious about whether this worked or not.

"Larcen...? Are you...OK?" Marisa asked lightly.

Nothing happened. No reaction was made. No signs of movement. It had looked like it did not work. But then, they heard a light groan as Larcen slowly sat back up while rubbing his head.

"My head..." Larcen said quietly. He looked around to see that everyone was staring at him wide-eyed. "Guys..."

"Larcen!" Marisa smiled as she quickly wrapped her arms around her best friend, pulling him into a large hug.

"M-Marisa..." Larcen said, while choking a little.

Marisa quickly let go so that he would be able to breath. "I'm sorry about that. It's just..." She grew teary eyed, but she wiped it away while smiling. "We're really happy that you are alive again."

"Thanks. But what happened? Didn't I die?" Larcen wondered.

"You did. But thanks to Silver and Viola, they were able to bring you back life." Louise said with a smile.

Larcen looked to see Silver and Blaze standing next to each other. "Thanks. But how were you able to do it?"

Silver showed Larcen his necklace. "With my necklace, I was able to restore life back into you. And with the help of Viola, she restored your soul at a normal state."

Larcen looked to see Viola was unconscious while laying in Samson's arm. "What happened to her?"

"She passed out after helping restore life you back into you." Samson replied. "Don't worry. I'm taking care of her."

Larcen smiled a bit. Marisa looked at him cautiously.

"Can you stand?" The red-haired mage asked.

"I'll try." Larcen said as he slowly placed his feet on the ground while using his hands to support him. He startled for a moment, but was able to maintain his footing. "There. I'm OK."

"That's a relief." Kyla smiled.

After that was taken care of, Sonic turned to Silver and Blaze. "What are you two doing here anyway? Do you know what's really going on?"

"And how did you know about senorita Viola?" Samson asked.

"We know everything about Hellsing; the leader of a shady group called the Ministry." Blaze answered. "He is known as the Lord of Darkness that was mentioned in the legends."

"Legends?" You mean the one about the Black Dragon?" Knuckles asked.

"Yes." Blaze answered. "While the war between the two tribes had been going on, there was a group of druids that was also in the works. Their goal was to revive Hellsing from his eternal sleep. However, that didn't happen thanks to the revival of the Black Dragon."

"You know the rest about how it all went out." Silver added. "Now that he's revived, his goal is to collect the Chaos Emeralds and the necklaces."

"But why? And what are these necklaces for?" Sonic asked.

"There's a place known as Hall of the Dragons. It is located at the Gigan Rocks and that is where you guys will know the answers to everything that's been going on." Blaze told them.

"If we want to stop Hellsing, that is where we must go." Silver explained. "Take the necklaces with you as well. These are vital to our destination."

"But how will we get there?" Amy asked. "Getting to the Gigan Rocks is kind of far."

"And not everyone is going to fit on the Tornado II." Tails added. "It only has room for four people."

"Not necessary." Sonic retorted, as he dashed towards the lift plane of the wing and relaxed on it. "Now you have some room."

" Thanks. But it's still not enough." Tails said.

Louise looked over at Samson, whom was taking care of Viola. "Samson, let me carry Viola for you."

"Huh? But why?" Samson asked.

"I'll ride along in the Tornado II. I'll carry Viola with me while I'm at it." Louise replied. "You guys can ride on your boards."

"That's right." Marisa nodded. "We took them with us after the World Tennis Tournament was over. We should still have them."

"All right then. Go get them." Louise said to her.

"Right." Marisa nodded. "Come on Larcen and Samson."

The three ran back inside the Saloon to go get their Extreme Gear boards. They returned a minute later with their boards in hand.

"All right, w'er ready!"

"Good." Louise nodded.

"But wait a minute, what about Kera?" Marisa wondered. "She's the only one who doesn't have a board herself."

"She can ride with me." Larcen suggested. "Are you all right with this, Kera?"

"Sure." Kera said. "I promise not to fall off."

Everyone, including Silver and Blaze who had their boards as well, got on. The Sonic Heroes rode inside the Tornado II, along with Louise Harmon and the unconscious Viola.

"Is everyone ready?" Sonic asked.

Everyone nodded in reply, was they waited for the signal.

"Tails, set a course for the Gigan Rocks!" Sonic told him.

"Right." Tails nodded as he started up the Tornado II's engine. It took a moment or two until the plane was already taking off. Tails had control of the plane, as he turned it and headed in a different direction. Our heroes from behind were following the blue plane by their boards, as they all headed for the Gigan Rocks.

* * *

**The answer to defeating Hellsing lies at the Gigan Rocks. What will our heroes discover at the Hall of the Dragons? How do Silver and Blaze know so much about this? And what do these necklaces have to do with our heroes? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	18. Behind the Fire

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Samus Aran © Nintendo  
Shredder © Mirage

Chapter Eighteen: Behind the Fire

**- Mansion; Location Unknown -**

The scene shifts towards the mysterious mansion. Where just a moment ago, Samus Aran and the Chaotix had entered the place to search for a Chaos Emerald that was located here. It was dark inside, but there were a few candles holders hanging on the walls, and there were candles that burned brightly for our heroes to see. There were also two flights of stairs that both lead to the same hallway.

Vector looked around the place, surprised at how large this place was. "Man, I thought this place from the outside was big. But I didn't expect it to be this big!"

"Helloooooooo?" Charmy called out. "Is anyone here?"

Everyone waited for a response to be made back. But all they could hear was silence around the place.

"I guess no one's home." Charmy shrugged.

Espio looked around at his surroundings. "From what I could tell, it looks like no one lives here. It feels...abandoned."

"Abandoned or not, we can't stop here." Samus said. "Since this place is big, we might have to split up."

"Great idea, Samus!" Vector said with a smile. "All right, then. Espio and I will search the right area. Charmy and Samus will search the left area. All right? Now, let's move out!"

With that said, the two groups splitted up with Vector and Espio going right and Charmy and Samus going left.

* * *

We stick with Vector and Espio as they searched the living room of the mansion. It was a nice room with only one couch, a table, a picture frame standing perfectly still, and a fireplace which wasn't in use right now. Vector and Espio looked around at their surroundings.

"This place looks pretty neat." Vector said with satisfaction.

"It seems really well-decorated." Espio said. "I wonder why anyone would abandon this stuff?"

"Who knows?" Vector shrugged. "Maybe it's because the family that use to live here didn't like the place or something."

Espio thought it was a possibility, but something didn't seem right. This place seemed well-decorated and it didn't look to be touched at all. However, it looked spotless, so nothing seemed to be dirty. Espio noticed the portrait on the table as he went over to it and picked it up. What he was seeing was a young female red chameleon with green eyes, white gloves, green-wristbands, a red tank-top, and black/white sneakers. The figure next to it was another female chameleon, only younger. She had a green body, red eyes, white gloves, yellow wristbands, and a blue shirt with a picture of a heart on it. The two seemed to be smiling

Vector went over to see what Espio was looking at. "Hey, those are some nice girls. I wonder who they are?"

Espio looked around at the portrait to see if he could find any name of some sort, but had no luck. "It doesn't look like there is a name on here."

"Hmm..." Vector hummed in thought. "Maybe this could serve as a clue."

"How so?" Espio asked.

"Well, if there's anything here that we can find as to help us who this is, then perhaps we'll get a better idea of where we are at." Vector answered.

"Hmm...you could be right." Espio thought.

"I know I'm right!" Vector said with a grin. "Now, let's see if we can find anymore clues. Or perhaps even the Chaos Emerald while we're at it."

Thinking that was the best idea, Espio slipped the portrait inside an unknown pocket of his before continuing to search around the room.

Vector looked through some old books that were encased on a book-shelf. He picked up each one and looked at all of the pages, but nothing about it seemed interesting, so he decided to put it back. He continued to look through more books, but nothing about them seemed odd, and he decided to give up on that part.

"Man, reading books isn't exactly my type of occupation. Too much stuff to remember." Vector shook his head with a sigh.

As Vector was getting away from the book department, he saw something that was next to the fireplace. It looked like a sword's bracket. Vector went over to it and carefully picked it up.

"I wonder what this thing is?" The green crocodile wondered. He moved it around until something fell out and dropped to the ground. "Huh?"

Espio stopped what he was doing, which was looking at several paintings, as he turned around in Vector's direction. "Did you find anything, Vector?"

Vector picked up the item that had dropped to the ground and looked at it. "Espio, come take a look at this."

Espio went over to see what Vector was holding in his hands. 'Hmm...it looks like a wooden toy sword."

"It looks pretty well-made, too." Vector added. "I wonder who it belongs too?"

Espio rubbed his chin in thought. "Who knows? I agree, though, that it is very-well made."

"Should we keep it as a clue?" Vector asked.

"Of course. Like you said, anything can be used as a clue." Espio reminded him.

"Oh right." Vector chuckled nervously. "I forgot."

Espio sighed a little in hopelessness, but at least they were making progress. "I wonder if the others are having any good luck as we are."

* * *

On the upstairs right side of the mansion, we could see Samus and Charmy exploring one of the rooms. It looked to bedroom with very little fashion. All we could see was a bed, a toy chest with nothing in it, some collection of model swords, and a few small portraits of the same two chameleon girls together.

Charmy looked around to see that there was nothing around here that interested him. "How long are we suppose to stay in this room? There's nothing in here!"

"Just relax." Samus told him, as she was busy getting any important readings from her visor. "Since there is another room across from where we are, why don't you check there? I'll rejoin you when I'm done."

"All right!" Charmy nodded as he quickly buzzed out of the room.

Samus didn't really receive any important readings on the bed, so she looked over at the portraits that caught her eye. She picked it up and scanned it with her visor.

_Log Book Entry: Sabrina and Jill the Chameleon. Two sisters that share a special bond together. Not much known is known about their history, however._

At first, Samus didn't think this was important. But then again, she hadn't really explored the entire house. So she decided to hold her judgement for now until she found new information.

_CRASH!_

Samus heard a crash coming from across the room. Was it trouble? Samus put down the portrait and quickly headed out of the bedroom and towards the other room across from here. She pointed her arm cannon inside to see where the crash had come from.

"Charmy, are you all right?" Samus asked.

Charmy turned around to see that he had a sheepish grin on his face. Laying on the ground was a vase that looked like it was just dropped. "Uh, sorry about that. My mistake."

Inside her helmet, Samus closed her eyes in slight annoyance. "Please try not to break anything."

"You got it!" Charmy smiled as he started to pick up the broken pieces of the vase.

As he did this, Samus got a look around the room. It was another bedroom that had another bed **(which was similar to the other bed from the other room)**, and a small desk that featured some crayons, paper, and a few pictures of some drawings. Not much else was in the room besides those things. It felt like this room was very lonely and had little variety. Was it because this person was only a little kid?

"Hey Samus! I found something!" Charmy said excitedly.

Samus turned in Charmy direction. "What is it?"

"Look at this wall!" Charmy pointed at it.

Samus went over to the wall and looked at what she was seeing. It looked like someone had written something here, but the problem was, all the writing seemed like it was written in a different language.

"Can you read it? Because all of this writing seems really weird." Charmy said with a puzzling look.

"I think I can decipher it. Give me a minute." Samus said, as her visor began to scan the writing. After a minute, she got a reading.

_Inscription Translated: Thirteen years ago. It was the day that changed my life forever. That fire started it all, as it burned down this very home. It took us off guard and burned without warning. My parents were killed before they could have a chance to escape, but that wasn't the only thing that fire took away. It took something close and dear to my heart; My younger sister, Jill. She was dead. As for me, however, I lived and was able to escape the flames. But with my sister gone, I am torn into pieces. And unless there is a way to bring her back to life, I will continue to remain in hiding until I find a way to revive my sister and end my horrible nightmare._

Charmy looked at the walls a little longer, but still couldn't figure out what it was suppose to say. He looked over at Samus, whom looked like was still trying to gather information.

"Hey Samus, what does it say?" Charmy asked.

"Let's head back and join up with the others. We have to tell them what we found." Samus said, as she headed out of the room.

Charmy was confused. Shrugging, Charmy flew after Samus to catch up with her.

* * *

Soon, the Chaotix and Samus had rejoined together after some time away from each other.

"Did you guys manage to find anything?" Samus asked.

"I found a toy sword back in the living room that looked really well-made. Although to be honest, I don't know if it counts as a clue. I just thought it looked cool." Vector chuckled in embarrassment.

Samus sighed a little before turning to Espio. "What about you?"

Espio pulled out the portrait from an unknown pocket and showed it to everyone. "I also found this in the living room. But I couldn't find their names on here because it doesn't mention that."

Samus got a closer look at the portrait, which it showed the two chameleon girls together, smiling. "I found something very similar to this when I was searching the bedroom. And Charmy found something else that I think you guys might want to hear."

"Really?" Vector's eyes widened with interest.

"What is it you two found?" Espio asked.

"There was writing on the walls that was found on the other side of the room." Samus replied. "The two chameleon girls are named Sabrina and Jill. They were two sisters that held a special bond with each other. But about thirteen years ago, there was a fire here. It burned the place down, and killed not only their parents, but Jill as well. Sabrina was the only one that managed to escape it. But after she heard about her siste's death, it crushed her heart. It said that she was in hiding. She had been trying to find a way to revive her sister from the dead, but she had no luck." Samus finished. "And that's all about what we found."

"Hmm..." Vector rubbed his chin in thought. "Something's weird."

"What is, Vector? What's weird?" Charmy wondered.

"If this whole place was burned down, then why is it still standing here?" Vector asked. "It couldn't have magically built itself back together...could it?"

That was a really good question. How did this place became to be if it was burned down before?

Then suddenly, Espio heard a sound dropping to the ground. He turned to see something that made his eyes widen in surprise. "It's you again!"

The others turned to see what Espio was looking at. Their eyes widened as well.

It was the masked-cybernetic ninja. It stared at our four heroes while holding two Chaos Emeralds in it's left head, one of purple and one of yellow. It was also still holding it's katana in it's right hand. "So, we meet again, my friend. And here of all places." It spoke with it's cybernetic voice.

"Hey! It's holding two of the Chaos Emeralds!" Charmy exclaimed.

"We already figured that out, Charmy." Vector said.

Samus narrowed her eyes at the masked-cybernetic ninja. "There's something that I need to ask you."

The ninja looked at Samus. "And what might that be?"

"This might sound sudden, but are you in connection to Sabrina and Jill the Chameleon?" The bounty hunter asked.

The masked ninja didn't say anything as it stood there and stared at Samus.

"I'm only asking because there was some writing in one of the rooms of this house that said Sabrina's younger sister was killed here in a fire 13 years ago that burned this place down, killing her parents and her younger sister, too. I was wondering if you either know about this incident...or your actually Sabrina in hiding."

"Hiding?" The masked ninja wondered.

"It said that after her sister was killed, she went off in hiding to find a cure that would bring her sister back from the dead. But she hadn't found it and she has not been seen or heard of since." Samus explained.

The masked ninja said nothing again as it simply stared at Samus.

"Now, I'll ask you again. This time, in more detail. Are you or are you not Sabrina?" Samus asked.

The masked ninja remained silent. Not saying anything. It just stood there with the two Chaos Emeralds in it's hand. Was it going to reply to Samus's question?

As silence filled the air, Espio's eyes widened. "Guys, move out of the way!"

The others were confused until the door blasted open from the entrance. At the nick of time, our heroes moved out of the way, but at least the doors were able to stand intact. And the one responsible for breaking them open was the familiar figure standing at the doorway.

"Hey, it's that Shredder guy!" Vector pointed out.

Vector had already guessed it. We see the Shredder standing tall as he stared at our heroes. "The Chaos Emeralds are here."

"Huh?" Charmy raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"The Chaos Emeralds, you little pest!" Shredder exclaimed. "It leads me here. And I know that ninja is hiding them."

The cybernetic masked ninja said nothing as it laid the two Chaos Emeralds on the ground. "If you are looking to take them from me, you'll have to get past me first."

"That won't be a problem." Shredder chuckled. "Chaos Control!" With those words shouted, the Shredder disappeared in a bright flash of light.

The masked ninja seemed slightly surprised at this. How did he know how to use Chaos Control? Unless...

However, before the ninja could realize what happened, Shredder appeared right in front of the masked ninja and quickly swiped with his claws. The claws connected with the ninjas mask, before it was sent flying towards a wall, where it landed with a hard crash before falling towards the ground.

"Ugh..." The masked ninja was able to slowly get back it's feet, but Shredder was already thinking ahead as it grabbed the ninja by the throat and quickly swinged him across the other way and made it crash to another wall, where it fell towards the ground again.

Shredder looked at the downed ninja before turning his eyes towards the two Chaos Emeralds on the ground. He quickly picked them both up and held them in his hands. "Ah, two more Chaos Emeralds in my possession. But wait..."

He turned his eyes towards a wall that seemed to attract the attention of the Chaos Emeralds that were glowing brightly. Deciding to check it out, Shredder used his claws to slash at the wall. The area opened itself some sort of safe. Shredder used his claws again to smash the safe door into pieces. That's when he saw something that really pleased him.

Two Chaos Emeralds were shining brightly as our heroes were shocked to see this.

"It's more of the Chaos Emeralds!" Vector exclaimed.

"That's must've where they been this whole time." Samus realized.

"Guys, we need to stop him! He's going to take the Chaos Emeralds!" Charmy shouted.

"I'll stop him." Espio said as he grabbed out a couple of ninja stars and threw them with precise aim at the Shredder.

After collecting the two Chaos Emeralds from the safe, Shredder turned to see the ninja starts coming. Thinking quickly, the metal warrior used his gauntlets to protect them from the purple chameleon's projectiles. "Did you really think that would stop me, chameleon ninja?"

"Then perhaps I shall have to take you head on." Espio narrowed his eyes as he quickly charged after the Shredder.

"I'm afraid that you'll have to wait until next time." Shredder told him. "Chaos Control!"

A bright flash engulfed the Shredder just before Espio could attack him. Our heroes covered their eyes from the light until it had died down. The Shredder and the five Chaos Emeralds, were gone.

Espio gritted his teeth a little. "Damn. He got away."

"And he got the Chaos Emeralds, too." Vector said in disappointment. "Just our luck."

The masked ninja was able to get back to it's feet. It saw that the safe was crashed open and the Chaos Emeralds were no longer there. "No! The emeralds!"

Our heroes looked to see that the masked ninja had dropped to it's knees as it smashed it's fist on the ground multiple times in frustration.

"Damn it! I was getting close! Just that close! If I had gotten them all, then my sister...she..."

Espio's eyes widened at that moment. "Sister?"

"Wait..." Charmy scratched his head. "What does this mean again?"

Samus had her suspisions confirmed. "Then you must be her. Your Sabrina."

The cybernetic masked ninja had it's head up as it slowly made it back to it's feet. "So...you know now. In that case, I don't feel to hide my real face from you." It used it's free hand to take off it's mask and reveal it's face. It was the same female red chameleon with green eyes. She also had a hint of blackness above it's eyebrows.

The Chaotix's eyes widened in shock.

"You...your a woman?!" Vector asked with a surprised face.

"Whoa...that's the second time someone behind a mask is really a woman!" Charmy pointed out.

"So, you weren't really hiding. You were actually someone else." Espio said. "Why are you trying to revive your sister?"

The mask ninja, now revealed to be Sabrina, answered. "You don't understand. My sister means everything to me. We've been through the best of times and the worst of times. She was the only thing that kept me happy. That was...until that fire started. And it was because of that my sister is dead."

"But your sister died in an accident, right?" Charmy wondered.

Sabrina narrowed her eyes. "That fire was no accident. Someone set my home on fire on purpose. I intended to find my sister's murderer so that person will be silenced for harming her and my family."

"But if you say that this place burned down, then how come everything looks normal?" Vector asked.

Sabrina lowered her eyes. "I spent two years rebuilding this place all by myself. I wanted to make it like it was before that fire took it down. It didn't care how long it took, I just wanted my memories with my sister to be safe and alive again. That way, I would have nothing to forget."

"So how did you come across the Chaos Emeralds?" Samus questioned. "You must've found out about their nature."

"I learned about while in hiding. They said that they were to create miracles when all seven of them were joined together. I figured that if I were collect all seven, I would be able to bring back my sister." Sabrina answered.

"So you became who you are? A killer?" Espio asked.

"Your wrong." Sabrina shook her head. "I don't kill people for fun. I only kill for anyone that stood in my way from getting what I wanted." The red chameleon frowned. "But now that the Chaos Emeralds are gone, the hopes of my sister are dead."

Our heroes looked at each other, trying to decided what the best thing to do was.

"Could you tell us about what this Shredder person wants with the Chaos Emeralds?" Samus questioned.

Sabrina looked back up at our heroes. "I have nothing to say for your question. However, I have heard that he is working for a greater evil. One, in which that intends to engulf the world into darkness."

"How do you know all this? And what do you mean by greater evil?" Vector asked.

"Go to the Gigan Rocks. There is a temple called the Hall of Dragons. That is where you will get your answers." Sabrina answered, as she picked up her sword. She then turned around and jumped in the air as she disappeared into thin air.

"Wait...!" Espio tried to stop her, but it was already too late. Espio lowered his head like he was in shame. Vector look concerned for his friend.

"Hey Espio, you OK?" Vector asked.

"I...I'm fine." Espio slowly replied. "It's just..."

"It's that girl, right? Don't worry about it. We'll probably run into her again." Vector said with a smile.

"...Your right." Espio nodded a little before turning to the others. "Let's head for the Gigan Rocks. Whatever Sabrina was telling us might be important."

"OK!" Charmy exclaimed happily.

Samus nodded once. "Let's go, then."

With that said, our heroes traveled outside the mansion and headed towards Samus' ship. Espio looked back to see where Sabrina last stood. Wherever Sabrina had gone to, Vector was right. She would appear again. But when? For now, Espio put that aside as our heroes next destination was the Gigan Rocks.

* * *

**The identity of the masked ninja has been revealed and has lost the Chaos Emeralds to the Shredder. Where has she gone to now? Is she looking for revenge? And what will happen when the Sonic Heroes meet up with he Chaotix and Samus? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	19. Hall of the Dragons

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Samus Aran © Nintendo

Chapter Nineteen: Hall of the Dragons

**- Gigan Rocks -**

The scene shifts towards the Gigan Rocks. It was filled with mountains that stood tall while there were some ruins and some caves that were located on a lower base of the Gigan Rocks.

Up in the sky, we could see the Blue Tornado flying across the sky, and not far below them, we see Larcen, Marisa, Samson, Kyla Silver, and Blaze were a little ahead of them on their Extreme Gear boards. With our heroes from below, Larcen, Marisa, and Samson were following Silver and Blaze, as they led the way.

"How much further?" Marisa asked.

Blaze looked around until she saw something. "There!"

Our heroes looked up to see a large temple that very well built and we could see two statues of dragons on the side of the doorway.

"Follow us!" Silver told them, as he and Blaze dashed off towards the temple. Larcen, Marisa, Samson, and Kyla quickly dashed after them.

Up above, Sonic could see the five heroes traveling fast from below. He noticed that they were heading towards a temple that was just up ahead of them. "Tails, head for that temple!"

"Right." Tails nodded. "Hang on!"

Tails stepped it up on the controls as he boosted towards their destination.

At the entrance of the temple, we could see Shadow the Hedgehog standing with his arms folded. From what we could tell, it looked like Shadow was waiting for something.

The first ones to reach it was the Blue Tornado, as it made a landing near the temple's entrance. Our heroes hopped off the plane as they saw Shadow standing there.

"Shadow?" Tails raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

"The same reason as you." Shadow answered.

"Huh?" Amy was confused.

"I'm here because of this." Shadow pointed at the yellow necklace that was around his neck.

"Wait, how did you know then? About this place?" Sonic wondered.

"We told him." Silver said, as he and the other heroes joined up together.

"You did?" Knuckles asked.

"Actually, we ran into Shadow when we were trying to find you guys. We told him about what's really been going on and he decided to help out." Blaze answered.

"So I guess we're all here together then." Sonic shrugged with a smile.

"Where's senorita Viola?" Samson asked Louise.

"She's resting inside the plane. She'll awaken soon when she feels better." Louise replied.

Samson felt relieved to hear this news. He then turned towards the temple that was right in front of our heroes. "So I guess this is the place."

"Let's go inside. Follow us and we'll lead you to them." Blaze said.

"Them?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"You'll see." Blaze glanced at him "Now let's get going."

Sonic was lost in thought. What did Blaze mention about "them"? He shrugged at the thought as our heroes made their way inside the temple.

* * *

**- Hall of the Dragons -**

The scene zooms inside the Hall of the Dragons. From the outside, it looked like to be big. But from the inside, it looked really spectacular to our heroes as they gazed around at the sight of the place.

"This place is amazing..." Tails said in awe.

"It's really big." Amy said.

"It looks a little bigger than the stadium back in Future City." Kyla added, as she looked around at the place. The light-blue haired female human was referring to the tennis tournament three months ago.

Shadow wasn't exactly dazzled like the others. It was all just a bunch of shiny-brass pillars and the walls didn't really look that impressive to the black hedgehog either. It was all just pictures of dragons, each in different shape and size. So as you can tell, he wasn't the type to get fazed easily.

The group continued forwards until Silver and Blaze stopped, which also caused our heroes to stop as well. What they were seeing in front of them was a large circular shrine. There were also four thrones there that stood across from where our heroes were standing.

"So...what happens now?" Larcen wondered.

Silver and Blaze stepped near the shrine. Both of them raised their necklaces in the air.

"We are here, elders." Silver called out.

"And we have the necklaces, as well." Blaze added.

Our heroes were confused by this. Just what were they doing? Their answer was questioned when four shines of light appeared from the ceiling and headed towards the four thrones. The lights then reformed to create four new figures in their place. They were all wearing different-colored robes. The one on the far left was wearing a green robe. The second one next to the left was wearing a blue robe. The third one next to the right was wearing a purple robe. And the one on the far right was wearing a silver robe. We could not see their faces, seeing as they were covered. The only thing we could see was their bright glowing eyes that resembled their colored-robes. These were mystics. Powerful artists of ancient magic.

Our heroes were taken back by these new figures in robes.

"What are these guys?" Amy asked, a little frightened.

"It's all right, Amy." Silver said reassuringly. "They are here to help."

Shadow eyed each of the four figures. "Who are you suppose to be?"

"We are known as the Dragon Elders." The green-robed mystic answered with a raspy voice. "We have been the watchers of this temple for over a century and we have been waiting until the seven treasures of the Dragon Lords are reunited to defeat the dark one."

"The dark one?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"They mean Hellsing." Louise replied. "What do you know about him?"

"Over 1500 years ago, he was awakened by powerful dark magic and was destined to engulf the world within darkness as the Dark Demon." The blue-robed mystic answered, as it spoke with a deep voice. "At first, it looked to be true. However, seven dragons had banned together to combine their elements of Water, Fire, Wind, Thunder, Ice, Light, and Darkness to banish the dark one back to it's resting place."

"After the dark one was finished, the energies of the seven dragons had been turned into necklaces. Where they remain at rest, even to this day." The red-robed mystic added, as it spoke with a female voice.

"But we have them right here." Kyla said, as she showed her purple necklace in her hands.

"Indeed you do, mortal." The red-robed mystic said. "But do you know how their powers work individually?"

"Uh..." Kyla was unable to answer this question, since she had little knowledge about these necklaces.

"We can explain." Silver spoke up. "Individually, these necklaces each of the powers of the seven dragons. Like my necklace, for example. I'm able to use it's power to restore a dead person's soul back to life."

"That is correct, Silver." The green-robed mystic nodded. "Does anyone one of you know how the rest of your necklaces work?"

That's when something clicked into Kera's mind. "Wait! I remembered that Hellsing came by and fought Larcen for his necklace. When Hellsing killed him, My anger got out of control and there was this dark energy that came from Kyla's necklace that went over my head and formed itself as the Black Dragon. It used it's dark fire breath to attack Hellsing, but he managed to escape before a scratch could get on him, though."

"It seems that you must be the late descendant of the dark Dragon Lord; Helios." The red-robed mystic said.

"Me? What are you talking about?" Kera asked.

"Seven warriors each found a different necklace. These warrior, who did not know each other at the time until they were brought together to bring peace to the world. In time, they were officially known as the Dragon Lords." The green-robed mystic explained. "The warriors all had different personalities, which makes themselves unique."

"Who were these warriors?" Marisa asked.

"If you want to know about them, you will have to take that up with the guardians." The blue-robed mystic answered.

"Guardians?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"We the founders of the Hall of Dragons want to prove if you are worthy to be the real descendants of the previous Dragon Lords." The green-robed mystic explained. "You will also be put to the test to see if you are the ones who are worthy enough to take down the dark one once and for all."

"So what are we waiting for?" Sonic asked with a grin. "Bring on these guardians!"

"It is not as simple as you think." The red-robed mystic told Sonic. "Before you do, we must see which necklace fits with each of you."

"How are you going to do that?" Knuckles questioned.

The silver-robed mystic got up from it's seat and approached the middle of the shrine.

"Who's that guy?" Sonic asked.

"This is our silent one. It cannot talk, but it has the ability to match the necklaces to determine which one of you would represent that element." The red-robed mystic answered.

The silver-robed mystic raised it's arms in the air as flashy blue energy began to engulf it's hands.

Sonic looked down at the blue necklace it was holding to see that it started to levitate in the air. It then wrapped itself around Sonic's neck until it was securely locked on him.

Shadow only watched as the yellow necklace levitated itself in the air as it wrapped itself around the black hedgehog's neck as it was also securely locked on him.

Kyla's purple necklace started to levitate as well. But this time, it moved over towards Kera as it wrapped itself around the purple hedgehog's neck until it was fastened tight.

The same thing happened to Silver, Blaze, and Larcen's necklace. The white necklace was securely around Silver's neck, the red necklace was securely around Blaze's neck, and Larcen was of the same with his green necklace."

The silver-robed mystic's energy stopped as it lowered it's arms down. Our heroes looked each other in confusion.

"What's going on?" Shadow questioned.

"There seems to be one necklace short." The green-robed mystic realized.

"That presents a problem." The red-robed mystic said.

"A problem?" Tails wondered.

"Unless all seven necklaces are brought together, no one can take the tests set by the Element Guardians." The blue-robed mystic pointed out.

"Damn it!" Knuckles slammed his fist down in anger. "We're one necklace short, and we have no idea where it is!"

"Did someone call for a necklace?" A voice asked.

Our heroes turned to see who made that voice. Standing near the entrance was the familiar group of the Chaotix and Samus Aran, whom was holding a light blue necklace.

"It's the Chaotix!" Tails exclaimed happily.

"But who's that with them?" Kyla wondered.

Most of our heroes were confused by this strange figure in the orange-suit. Samus took off her helmet to reveal her face "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Samus Aran. I am a bounty hunter, and we came here to the Gigan Rocks."

"What for?" Knuckles questioned.

"For the same reason as you, of course." Vector replied with a grin.

"We overheard you guys talking and it's a good thing too, right?" Charmy asked Samus with a smile.

"Right." Samus nodded once, as she showed the light blue necklace that she was carrying. "I suppose this is the necklace you guys are looking for?"

Our heroes widened their eyes in surprise.

"It's the last necklace!" Tails exclaimed.

"But where did you find it?" Louise asked.

"There was some tiger named Saladan, who held it before at the time, but thanks me and these guys, we managed to take it from him and it's with us now." Samus answered.

"We also have a Chaos Emerald with us, too." Espio added, as he pulled out the green Chaos Emerald and showed it to our heroes.

"As you can tell, we've been doing a lot of work lately." Vector chuckled a bit.

Our heroes were still surprised. The Chaotix, and Samus, had been working together to collect a Chaos Emerald and a necklace. This seemed to surprise Knuckles mostly, seeing as how the Chaotix weren't exactly all that smart.

As soon as the surprise had died down, Samus and the Chaotix approached the shrine until they were face to face with the silver-robed mystic.

'We know about what's been going on. So go on and see where this necklace belongs too." Samus said to the silver-robed mystic.

The silver-robed mystic turned to the other robed figures, who each gave the nod. When it got the word, the silver-robed mystic raised it's arms forward and concentrated it's power on the one remaining necklace. It slowly levitated in the air and froze in mid-air.

Everyone was waiting to see where the necklace was going to go towards. The silver-robed mystic concentrated, trying to get a good reading on which one of our heroes was going to by the last one to be worthy of wearing the last necklace.

That's when it made it's decision. The light-blue necklace simply wrapped itself around Samus's neck until it was securely locked around her.

The Chaotix were surprised by this.

"Your the one to wear the last necklace?" Vector asked with wide eyes.

"That's so awesome!" Charmy exclaimed happily.

Samus didn't look too impressed by her new fashion sense. "What are we suppose to do with these?"

The silver-robed mystic floated back to it's throne and sat down. Once that was out of the way, the blue-robed mystic spoke next.

"Now, for those who have been chosen to wear the necklaces, step into the shrine."

Doing what it said, Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Blaze, Larcen, Kera, and Samus stepped onto the circular shrine.

"The seven of you have been chosen to be the potential descendants of the original Dragon Lords. But to see if you really are worthy to stop the dark one, you must get passed the seven Element Guardians."" The blue-robed mystic explained.

"You will be transported to a location that fits your element necklace. You will be seperated individually and be going through each trial that the Guaridians give you." The green-robed mystic added.

"You will be put through harsh tests. Whether it'd be fighting the Guardian itself, or facing an obstacle set by the Guardian itself. You will learn to adapt new abilities with your own element. You will be trained by the Guardians to prove that you have what it takes! And only if you succeed the trial's put ahead of you, only then will you be read to fight the dark one." The red-robed finished.

"Now..." The blue-robed mystic said. "It is time for your trials to begin."

The seven heroes looked down as the shrine began to engulf our heroes in a bright light. Our other heroes covered their eyes from the light until it had died down. When it did, our heroes looked to see what had happened.

"There gone!" Marisa noticed. "Where did they go?"

Louise narrowed her eyes, having a good idea of what just happened. The shrine that our seven heroes were in have disappeared.

It was time for the trials to begin.

* * *

**A new test is set before our seven heroes. What will our heroes learn from their necklaces? Will they be able to get past these trials set by the Element Guardians? Or will it be too much for our heroes to take? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**

**

* * *

**

**Since I'm feeling generous, I'll let you guys choose which character you would like to see go through their trial first.**

**1) Sonic**

**2) Blaze**

**3) Larcen**

**4) Shadow**

**5) Samus**

**6) Silver**

**7) Kera**

**I will be going through every character's trial. But instead of going through them in order, I decided to let you guys do that to make it more interesting.**


	20. Cold Feet

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Note: Due to a tie, I decided to flip a coin to determine who wins out of Samus and Silver. The winner is in this chapter.

Samus Aran © Nintendo  
Kingdom Hearts © Square Enix

Chapter Twenty: Cold Feet

**- Unknown Location -**

The scene opens to a new location. It was a cold place with the sky being from dark, but you could see a little bit of the sunlight that was coming from the South, which meant that it was slowly turning into Dawn. There was a stream in the middle of this place, that came from a waterfall that was flowing downwards obviously. It kinda looked like something you would see from Holoska, only without anyone here except the cold breeze, the water that gaped between two paths of this big area.

As the cold breeze blew itself by, a flash of light appeared and revealed itself to be Samus Aran. The light soon disappeared just as Samus landed on the ground. The bounty hunter looked around at her new surroundings.

"Seems like a quiet place." Samus looked over at the water. "Other than the flowing water, it's decent enough."

Samus looked all over the place. From what she could tell from her surroundings, she could see that there was no way out of the place that she was at. The only thing she could see was the gap that was widened between two parts, like a river. It was pretty much like an icy canyon.

She also noticed that no one was here, as well. At first, she thought that there would be no one here and that this whole thing was a hoax. But she knew better. At any moment, she would be expecting someone to appear from out of nowhere.

"Excuse me?" A voice called out.

Samus turned to the source of where the voice came from. That's when she noticed it across the other side of the gap.

We zoom over here to see a new figure. It was a female human whom was slightly shorter than Samus. She had short blue hair, and she had blue eyes. She was wearing a black and blue, high-collared halter top, two pink intersecting belts that covered her chest, and black shorts. She also wore a silver badge on her chest, as well. On her arms, she was wearing white bell-sleeves and tan fingerless gloves. There was also a small, segmented piece of armor on each of her upper arms. She was wearing what looked like black stockings which reached halfway up her thighs, which left a small area of bare skin on her upper thighs. She also bears two strips of blue cloth that drape over each side of her hips, along with a smaller white strip of cloth tied around her waist. And to finish her appearance, she wore pointed, armored, silver boots with a sharp hook on the outer side of each.

Samus narrowed her eyes at the new figure. "Who are you suppose to be?"

"I could ask you the same question." She answered straightly. "But let me ask; Are you here because you have potential to be the Dragon Lord of Ice?"

"Yeah..." Samus replied slowly. "And I take it that your the Guardian of Ice?"

"I am." The blue-haired female human nodded. "My name is Aqua."

Samus looked at Aqua from head to toe. "You don't exactly look a Guardian type. But I guess underestimating your appearance is something I shouldn't do."

Aqua answered by making a running boost and jumping across the gap, over the water, and landed on the other side to where Samus was at. "That's something I think we both can agree on. Now, I take it that the Dragon Elders sent you here because of the dark one?"

Samus raised an eyebrow. "You know about it?"

"The Dragon Elders told me about it when they found me." Aqua answered.

"Found you?" Samus wondered.

"The Dragon Elders have the ability to dimension travel and find the best source of warriors that would protect the ancient elements of the necklaces hidden power until the day would come when the dark one would be rise again." Aqua answered.

"And they chose you for Ice." Samus pointed out.

"Yeah." Aqua nodded. "That's right."

"What can you tell me about these descendants of the previous Dragon Lords?" Samus questioned. "The Dragon Elders said that the Guardians hold that information."

"We do." Aqua replied. "But before I tell you, I think it would be best to see if you can learn new abilities from me first."

"How so?" Samus asked.

"We fight, obviously." Aqua said, as she stepped backwards a few spaces before stopping. She raised her right arm forward and let her hand out, as a flash of light appeared in her hand. The light was soon replaced with a new weapon. It looked somewhat like a large key, but it's appearance was different compared to it. The color scheme was a mix between various blues and grays. The hilt of the weapon was silver and was separated from the shaft. The teeth jut out in a rounded fashion of the blade, and the keychain at the end of the blade looked like a water drop.

Samus raised an eyebrow at this new weapon. "What is that suppose to be?"

"It's a Keyblade. From the world I come from, a few others I know can also use these type of weapons." Aqua answered.

"Are they special?" Samus asked.

"This one is. It's my very own." Aqua answered before getting into a stance. "I think we've had enough talking for now. Let me see what you can do!"

At those words, Samus prepared herself as she aimed her arm cannon at Aqua. "You better think fast."

With that, Samus began firing from her cannon. But what she didn't expect was that she had Ice Beam online, which meant that she was only firing one shot of ice at a time. Aqua quickly cart-wheeled to the side to avoid the shot that had fired at her.

"Huh?" Samus checked her arm cannon. She then noticed something very surprising. "What the? What happened to my other weapon beams? And my visors?"

Aqua raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Their suppose to be a part of my Power Suit. But somehow, they all disappeared! The only one that's still equipped to my arm cannon is the Ice Beam." Samus answered, still not believing what she's seeing.

Aqua wasn't sure about Samus's technology problems, but then it looked like Aqua had remembered something. "Perhaps it must've been the Dragon Elders."

Samus looked up at Aqua. "The Dragon Elders?"

"They must've seen through your numerous weaponry and visors and decided to remove the unnecessary equipment so that you can only focus on your abilities of your Ice necklace." Aqua thought.

"If that's the case, then they should've at least removed my entire suit." Samus jokingly muttered.

"Now let's cut the chatter." Aqua narrowed her eyes, as she got into her fighting stance with her Keyblade in hand.

"Fine." Samus quickly said, as she got her arm cannon ready again. "Teach me what you know."

Aqua's Keyblade glowed with magic as it began to hover in mid-air. As Aqua moved, so did her Keyblade, as it swinged at Samus repeatedly. Samus used her arm cannon to defend herself as best as she could from the strikes that were coming from the Keyblade. Aqua, like her Keyblade, was also glowing with magic as she spinned herself around while attacking Samus with her Keyblade.

Samus was getting tired of defending herself, so she quickly turned into her Morph Ball phase and quickly rolled passed the swinging Keyblade and passed Aqua in the process. Aware of what happened, Aqua stopped and turned around to see Samus still in her Morph Ball. Her Keyblade was glowing with light-blue energy as she grabbed the hilt and raised it in the air, causing a mountain of ice to pop out of the ground. The Morph Ball was sent flying high in the air as a result before landing back on the ground with a thud.

After getting a hard landing, Samus switched out of her Morph Ball and back to her normal stance. "Well, that wasn't how I thought it would turn out."

The magic around Aqua's body disappeared as she looked at Samus. "Your ability to use turn yourself into a Morph Ball is unique, but it lacks any real interest."

"What do you mean?" Samus asked. "And how did you know about my Morph Ball?"

"The Dragon Elders told us about you before you even came here to take our trials. They see and hear and what's been going on. They pass us this information so that we will know a little more about you." Aqua answered briefly.

"Sounds more like an invasion of privacy, in my opinion." Samus said slowly. "What about my other question?"

"As I said, your Morph Ball lacks any real interest. However, if you combine this with your Ice necklace's abilities, then you can do something even more with your Morph Ball ability." Aqua told her.

"That sounds really good. So how do I do this?" Samus asked.

"First; Close your eyes and concentrate on your necklace." Aqua instructed. "Don't let anything else distract you."

Doing what she said, Samus closed her eyes and concentrated her mind on her necklace. After a couple of moments passed, a light-blue aura glowed around Samus, as the bounty hunter concentrated all her attention on her necklace.

"Very good." Aqua complemented with a nod. "Now, switch into your Morph Ball phase."

Samus complied again as she switched herself back into the Morph Ball. But she had a different look this time, as her Morph Ball design was covered with a light-blue Icy chill that gave off a freezy aura.

"All right. Now that you have focused on your Ice necklace, it is time to put it to the test." Aqua turned and pointed at the gap. "I want you to cross that gap in your Morph Ball phase. Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just cross it and see what happens."

Samus didn't move for a moment. She But seeing as how Aqua was trying to help her, she decided to take a chance at it. She rolled towards edge of the gap until she stopped. Aqua watched on, waiting for any other signs of movement from Samus. She then noticed the Morph Ball glowing a little brighter than usual, but just by a little. Before she could figure this out, Samus dashed across the gap within a mili-second, leaving behind an icy trail in her path. But she wasn't done there. She turned herself around and crossed another empty path, leaving another icy path across the gap before rolling towards Aqua. When she stopped a few feet away from Aqua, she switched out of her Morph Ball phase and back to her normal self.

"Well? How did it go?" Samus asked.

Aqua looked over at the two icy paths that she created. "Very well, I must say. Moving that fast without hesitation is something I would expect from you."

"I'm sure about that." Samus muttered to herself.

"Now, about your arm cannon." Aqua said. "Judging on how slow your Ice Beam shot is, it's clear to say that it won't help you a lot unless you really need it."

"It's helped out of bad situations before." Samus told her.

"Maybe so. But if your not on your guard when equipped with that weapon beam, you could get seriously hurt." Aqua explained.

"And I suppose you have a way to help me with that?" Samus questioned.

"That's what the Element Guardians are here for. If your going to defeat the dark one, you will need to learn from us." Aqua said seriously as she walked towards one of the gaped bridges and stopped before turning back to Samus. "Now, charge up your Ice Beam. But don't fire it."

Samus wasn't sure where Aqua was going with this, but she decided to follow her words anyway. She charged up her Ice Beam shot with her arm cannon, which looked to be covered with ice. As she kept this up, Aqua was ready to give out her next instructions.

"Now, concentrate on your necklace again. This time, focus on a different weapon." Aqua said.

"How's that gonna work?" Samus asked.

"Just think of any weapon that comes to your mind." Aqua explained. "Trust me."

Samus, again, listened to Aqua's words as she charged up her Ice Beam and closed her eyes to concentrate. Her arm cannon was starting to freeze due to the charging while the necklace seemed to glow again as a light-blue aura surrounded her Power Suit. Then suddenly, her charged up Ice Beam started to form a new weapon thanks to the necklace's energy.

Aqua's eyes widened in surprise at what weapon Samus had in mind. The weapon turned out to be another Keyblade, only it looked to be made of ice and was hovering in mid-air. When Samus was done charging up and concentrating, she opened her eyes and grabbed her newly formed Keyblade by it's hilt.

"A...Keyblade?" Aqua asked a little unexpectedly.

"What? You said to think up of any weapon in mind. And I chose a Keyblade." Samus said. "You got a problem with that?"

"No." Aqua shook her head before continuing. "Now that you have your choice of weapon, let me see your skills in combat against me. But one rule; you cannot use your arm cannon against me and I won't use any of my magic against you."

"Very well." Samus said as she gripped her newly formed Keyblade. "Let's dance."

Agreeing to this, Aqua and Samus immediately clashed Keyblade's with each other. Samus was slightly having the edge, despite using her left arm to fight. But Aqua knew more about the Keyblade than Samus did, so she cart-wheeled away from Samus's Keyblade swing and managed to attack Samus's torso area. Samus took the effect, but she countered it back by swinging her Keyblade in Aqua's direction. Aqua quickly ducked underneath it and managed to sweep Samus off her feet with her leg, knocking the bounty hunter on her back.

Samus was able to get back to her feet, as Aqua waited patiently for her to get back into the battle. Samus responded by swinging her icy Keyblade at Aqua again, while the blue-haired human defended herself from Samus's strikes. The blows from Samus's Keyblade caused Aqua to move backwards a couple of steps. Aqua had to admit; For someone who had very little experience with the Keyblade, she knew how to fight with one. But still, Aqua managed to fight back by continuing to clash with Samus's Keyblade, while trying to make Samus move backwards. The two females seemed to be even up close, but it was still early.

Aqua and Samus soon reached towards one of the gaped bridges. Aqua quickly avoided another swing from Samus's Keyblade as she jumped towards the other side. But while she did this, she cut off one of the ice bridges, cutting off a bit of access from Samus. But that didn't stop the bounty hunter, as she did a small running boost and jumped over to the other side where Aqua was at. When she did this, Aqua had already distanced herself from Samus.

"Your skills with the Keyblade is somewhat reckless." Aqua said. "Normally, it would be a bad thing. But looking at you, I can see that you have some nice combat skills.

"So that's basically saying that I'm doing this wrong?" Samus questioned her.

"Not at all. However, I might suggest you want to tone it down some. That way, you don't have to risk overdoing it." Aqua suggested. "Now, let's try it again. This time, a little faster."

Samus complied as she and Aqua charged at each other again with their Keyblades in hand. They met with a loud clang as they passed each other by. They quickly turned around clashed each other with their Keyblades. Neither one didn't show signs of holding back against each other. Aqua swinged her Keyblade at Samus's torso area again, but this time, Samus saw it coming. She quickly rolled underneath the swing and used her Keyblade to knock Aqua off her feet. Aqua fell to her knees as Samus pointed her Keyblade at Aqua's face. The blue-haired female human looked up at Samus.

"Well? How was that?" Samus asked.

Aqua looked at the Keyblade in front of her. For the first time, she smiled a little. "Well done. But let's see if your up for a better challenge."

"Better challenge?" Samus raised an eyebrow.

Aqua walked towards the middle of opened gap before stopping. She raised her Keyblade in the air as it glowed brightly. That's when something popped out of the water. The creature appeared to be a tall sea snake with yellow eyes and a slimy blue body coming from the water. The snake looked down at Samus with it's eyes.

"A snake?" Samus asked.

"I'm sure it won't be much trouble for you. If you can fight it off, then I'll know that you have passed your trial." Aqua told her.

Samus looked back up at the snake creature, whom opened it's mouth and fired a streak of electricity at Samus's Keyblade, destroying it in the process.

"Well, that was surprising." Samus said as she looked at her hand that once held the icy Keyblade.

The snake opened it's mouth and fired more electric sparks at Samus. The bounty hunter quickly ran away to avoid getting electrocuted. The snake stopped firing and quickly lashed out at Samus with it's teeth. Thinking quickly, Samus back-flipped out of the way before the teeth could chomp her. Samus fired a Ice Beam shot at the snake's teeth, which seemed to freeze it in it's place.

"Quickly, form up another weapon!" Aqua shouted.

"Huh?" Samus turned to Aqua, whom was standing safely away from the danger. "Why?"

"Using your Ice Beam will be able to freeze it, but it won't bring it down." Aqua explained. "Use the time so that you can form up a weapon that will take down that snake."

Samus looked over at the snake, who still was trying to free itself from it's frozen mouth. Deciding that was the best idea, Samus concentrated her mind on her necklace. It soon began to glow as light-blue energy surrounded Samus. A flash of light-blue energy began to shine in front of Samus as it began to form into something else. Samus opened her eyes as she was seeing a large plasma-heated cannon in front of her. She quickly grabbed the Plasma cannon and took aim at the snake.

The snake was finally able to free itself from it's frozen mouth as it turned to snake and was about to fire another spark of electricity at Samus. But before it could do that, Samus took this opportunity to fire a large plasma-fired shot at the snake's mouth. The shot flew straight inside the snake's mouth as a large explosion was made, causing the snake to cry out in pain. Smoke also covered itself as Samus watched and waited for any signs of movement.

The smoke had soon cleared itself as we see the snake laying it's head on it's side. From what just happened, Samus had defeated that snake.

The plasma cannon disappeared in her hands as the defeated snake began to slowly move back into the water until it was out of sight.

"Well done." Aqua complemented with a smile. Samus turned to see the blue-haired human approaching her. "Defeating something within a short amount of time was really impressive."

"It was nothing." Samus replied with a shrug. "I knew what that snake's weakness was, so it wasn't too much trouble."

"You seem much like the previous warrior before you. Closemouthed, skilled, and did everything it could to survive." Aqua stated.

"What do you mean?" Samus asked.

"As you mentioned before, we have knowledge about the previous Dragon Lords. However, they only told us about the ones that represent our element as the Guardians." Aqua explained. "The previous Dragon Lord of Ice was pretty like you."

"How so?" Samus asked.

"He was known as Satoryu the Panther." Aqua replied. "Over 1500 years ago, he lived in Ancient Holoska. He was known as a hunter and some people feared him. But he was eventually friendly towards his people, signalling that he did not like to bring harm to anyone. One day, he went out hiking towards a large mountain. But when he got halfway up there, an avalanche occurred. This caused the mountain to shake and the avalanche to come tumbling down. Before Satoryu could escape, the snow had covered him, possibly leaving him to die."

"But he found a way out of it, right?" Samus questioned.

"Right." Aqua nodded. "When Satoryu was digging his way through the snow, he had come across a cave that had been buried by the snow, so he went inside to try and warm himself up. However, he realized it was in there too. So he had to use whatever he could to make a fire. He used some of the equipment he brought with him and mainly took the wooden parts so he could have enough fuel for a fire. As he went around to explore the cave, he had found the Ice necklace."

"Sounds a lot like luck, if you ask me." Samus thought.

"That's what he thought, too. However, once he picked up the necklace, the Dragon Elders appeared from out of nowhere and showed themselves in front of Satoryu." Aqua explained.

"Wait? The Dragon Elders?" Samus asked, double-taking to be sure.

"Yes. The Dragon Elders showed themselves and with powerful magic, teleported him out of the cave and along along with them as well." Aqua added.

"So what happened afterwards?" Samus asked.

"After the Dragon Elders got Satoryu out of the cave, they saw that he had potential to be one of the Dragon Lords that was suppose to defeat the dark one if he were to ever arise again. Seeing as how he was able to survive that harsh cold, it was possible that the Dragon Elders could see that he would be able to handle himself, no matter how harsh the cold may be." Aqua replied before closing her eyes. "That's all I know."

Samus was taking a minute to gather in all the information she had been given. "Thank you for telling me. I appreciate it."

"Your welcome." Aqua smiled. "And because of your performance, you have passed the trial. But before I send you back, let me give you something." She reached in her pocket to reveal a small stone that was designed like a light-blue dragon's face. "Take this. You will need it when you and the others face the dark one."

Samus took the stone from Aqua and looked at it in her hand. "Thank you again. But how will this help me?"

"You'll know in time." Aqua told her. "Oh, and if your worried about your other weaponry and visors, don't be. You'll have them all back when you return."

"That's good to hear." Samus said with a small sigh of relief.

"Now stand still while I send you back." Aqua pulled out her Keyblade and closed her eyes. She then raised it in the air as magic surrounded her weapon.

The magic also surrounded Samus's body, as the bounty hunter looked around at her glowing-self. And within a blink of an eye, the magic made her disappear from sight.

When Samus was gone, the magic from Aqua's Keyblade disappeared as she opened her eyes again and looked up at the sky as it began to shine brightly from the horizon. "Good luck to you, Dragon Lord of Ice."

* * *

**The first trial has been passed as Samus survives the chilling cold and stands tall at Aqua's obstacle. Will Samus be able to learn even new abilities from her necklace? How will our other heroes pass their trials? And what will they learn from the other Element Guardians? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**

**

* * *

**

**Please choose the next character from below.**

**1) Sonic**

**2) Blaze**

**3) Larcen**

**4) Shadow**

**5) Silver**

**6) Kera**


	21. Shining Soul

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Digimon © Akiyoshi Hongo

Chapter Twenty-One: Shining Soul

**- Unknown Location -**

The scene shifts towards another unknown location. It was a floating island in the sky that looked similar to Angel Island. However, this wasn't that place, seeing as how there is no Master Emerald. Maybe it was either a figment of Angel Island or an entirely different place altogether.

As silence filled the air, a flash of light appeared, revealing itself to be Silver the Hedgehog. The white hedgehog landed on his feet as the light around him disappeared. He looked around at his surroundings.

"Where am I?" Silver asked himself. "This place looks familiar, but I'm not sure what it is."

Silver looked around to see an altar in the middle of the island. He walked over towards to see it up close. When he passed the stone steps, he saw that there was nothing at the top. He was confused.

"That's strange. What is this place suppose to be?" Silver asked out loud.

"This place is sacred to only the Dragon Lords. However, seeing you here is a good sign." A strange voice said.

Silver turned around to see where the voice came from. He soon got his answer in front of him.

What Silver was looking at was a new figure standing there. It was a tall-humanoid creature in white armor. It's feet had three yellow claws on each side, it's chest was crossed with purple marks that actually resembled the Crest of Friendship. It's head had two yellow horns on top along with blue eyes, and it's arms were a different story, though. It's left arm was orange and it's shoulder had a symbol that looked like the crest of Courage that we saw on WarGreymon seven months back. And on it's right arm, it that looked like the head of MetalGarurumon. And we could finally see it was wearing a white cape with the color red underneath it.

Silver narrowed his eyes at the new creature. "Who are you?"

"I am the Guardian of Light. My name is Omnimon." The creature answered.

"Wait...are you from the Digital World?" Silver questioned.

"Yes. I am a Digimon chosen to be one of the Element Guardians of the Dragon Lords." Omnimon answered him.

"Then, if by chance, do you know the DigiDestined?" Silver wondered.

"No. I do not believe I have." Omnimon shook his head.

"But that crest!" Silver pointed out. "That's the crest of Courage, is it not?"

"Indeed it is." Omnimon nodded once. "However, there are more than one species of Digimon from where I come from. That is the reason why it's not possible for me to have known these DigiDestined."

Now that Silver thought about it, Omnimon was right. It couldn't have been possible for Omnimon to know about this. So deciding to end that subject, he moved on to a different conversation. "Can you tell me about the Lord of Darkness?"

"I don't know much, unfortunately." Omnimon said with slight disappointment. "The only thing the Dragon Elders told me was that it is a creature made of pure evil that sends other unfortunate creatures to the Netherworld."

"The Netherworld?" Silver raised an eyebrow.

"The Netherworld is nothing but pitch blackness. When someone gets in the way of Hellsing, he either kills them or sends their souls to the Netherworld." Omnimon explained. "That is where he gains his power. For each soul that is in the Netherworld, his power grows slowly stronger."

Silver was surprised. He knew the situation was bad, but he didn't expect it to be this bad. "Then what do I do to stop it?"

"In order for the trapped souls of the Netherworld to be released, only the Dragon Lord of Light must use it's powers to release the souls so that they can finally rest in peace." Omnimon replied.

That's when Silver realized something. "But I did that before. When me and Blaze saw that Larcen was killed, I had used my necklace's powers to revive his soul back into his body, where he was alive again."

"And a good thing you did too. Seeing as how he was chosen to be the Dragon Lord of Wind." Omnimon said.

"So if I'm able to restore a dead person back to life, I can do the same to the others, right?" Silver asked.

"It's not that simple." Omnimon told him. "That was only one soul. If you want to release a large quantity of souls, then you'll have to use have to unleash the hidden powers of the Light Necklace. But to do that, you will need to use a special technique."

"Then teach it to me. I'll be able to learn it." Silver said.

"No." Omnimon answered.

"What? Why?!" Silver demanded.

"Because at your current state, you wouldn't be able to learn it." Omnimon replied. "I'm the one who holds that technique."

"Then what do I do to obtain this technique?" Silver asked.

"In order to pass the trial in front of you, you will need to defeat me in a battle." Omnimon told him.

"All right. Then let's get started." Silver decided.

"Not so fast." Omnimon told him. "Before we do battle, you will need to learn the basics of your new abilities. Follow me." Omnimon said, as he turned around and headed towards the largest area of clear land on the island.

Silver followed afterwards by walking down the stone steps and headed towards an area so that he was facing Omnimon from a short distance.

"Now, it's time for you to awaken the previous Dragon Lord of Light's power. To do that, combine your psychic powers with your necklace." Omnimon instructed.

Without hesitation, Silver closed his eyes and concentrated on his powers. He started to glow a light-blue aura around his body as his necklace began to glow brightly. The psychic energy started to combine itself with the light necklace as a new transformation began to glow around his arms. On his right arm, we could see a white colored dragon-shaped cannon that was being immediately attached to it. And on the left arm, we could see a sword-like weapon forming itself together as it was already being attached to it as well. The blade revealed itself to be a silver blade with the design of a white dragon on it.

Silver looked at both of his new features. "What are these suppose to be?"

"Those are what the Dragon Lord of Light used to help her in her battles long ago." Omnimon answered. "Now these weapons are passed on to you as the possible descendant of the Dragon Lord of Light."

"Weird..." Silver thought to himself. "I've never actually had to use these kind of weapons before."

"You will get use to them in time. Now, I will explain how both of your weapons will work." Omnimon stated. "Aim your dragon cannon at that large boulder over there."

Silver turned to in the direction in where Omnimon was pointing at. He could see a large boulder standing there. The white hedgehog raised his left arm towards the boulder.

"Now call the words 'Celestial Seirya' and fire your shot at the boulder." Omnimon instructed.

Silver nodded once as he narrowed his eyes at the boulder. "Celestial Seirya!"

The cannon's mouth opened up as a large ball of light quickly fired at the boulder. The magical light made contact with the boulder, destroying the large boulder within the process, which left many of the small pieces of the destroyed boulder on the ground.

Omnimon inspected Silver's work. "That wasn't bad for your first try."

Silver on the other hand, didn't feel like he accomplished anything from doing that. "How is this suppose to help me? Is this what I really need to do to defeat Hellsing?"

"Do you doubt your new abilities?" Omnimon asked.

"No." Silver shook his head. "It just...it just doesn't feel like me. That's all."

"Then perhaps you should combine your psychic abilities with your weapons." Omnimon suggested. "And I shall teach you these as we fight."

"You mean, right now?" Silver asked.

"If you want to adapt to your new abilities the easy way, then have at me. And let's see your combined skills put to the test." Omnimon challenged as his left arm extracted a blade that was the same length of Silver's. On Omnimon's blade, we could see a few mysterious orange symbols that looked like markings. This was his Grey Sword.

Seeing that Omnimon was already ready, Silver was ready as well. "Then get ready. Because I will not lose!"

With those words said, Silver and Omnimon clashed head-on with their swords clanging with each other. The sounds of their blades made a loud noise across the air. The clashing of the swords continued as Silver and Omnimon continued to attack each other, trying to see which one would gain the advantage over the other. Omnimon had the slightest advantage over Silver, seeing as how his strikes were faster than Silver's. However, Silver wasn't going to back down. As Omnimon was about to strike with his Grey Sword, Silver quickly rolled out of the way to avoid the horizontal swing of the blade. Silver retaliated by swinging his sword at Omnimon's armored body.

Omnimon's eyes were quick, however, as he quickly defended himself from that strike. Silver kinda cursed himself, seeing as how his sword was on his left arm. He usually never had to fight left-handed, whether it meant using his psychic powers or not.

But he wasn't going to complain about it now.

"Ultimate Uppercut!"

Before Silver could react to this, Omnimon did an uppercut by using the blunt side of his Grey Sword. Silver was sent flying into the air while Omnimon lowered his Grey Sword and raised his right arm in the air, opening the mouth of MetalGarurumon. This was also known as his Garuru Cannon. The weapon fired blue energy shots at Silver repeatedly. Each shot connected with Silver's body until Omnimon stopped firing, letting Silver fall to the ground as he landed on his back pretty hard.

The white hedgehog groaned in pain as he was slowly trying to get back to his feet. But then he slipped back onto the ground, almost looking defeated. When this happened, Omnimon approached him until he stopped at a good distance.

"Don't try pushing yourself up." Omnimon said.

"W-why not?" Silver questioned weakly.

"If you force yourself up, the battle will be over before you know it." Omnimon answered. "Just relax."

"Relax...?" Silver asked a little confusingly.

"Even if you are weakened in battle, your necklace will be able to restore your wounds back to normal. You just need to relax and let your body calm itself." Omnimon told him.

Seeing as how he was pretty badly banged up, Silver decided to listen to Omnimon's words and relax himself. Silver closed his eyes and calmed his body down. As he was beginning to relax, the necklace began to glow again as a light aura surrounded his body. The wounds and bruises on his body slowly began to disappear. It had seemed that the necklace's powers was taking into affect. Soon afterwards, the light aura disappeared and Silver got back to his feet without no trouble this time.

"Well? How do you feel?" Omnimon asked.

"I feel..." Silver moved his arms around. "...I feel great. That pain I felt before is gone."

"That is good to hear. Now that you feel better again, perhaps we should resume our battle?" Omnimon suggested.

Silver seemed to like that idea. "All right. Let's do this, then."

"Think fast." Omnimon warned, as he aimed his Garuru Cannon at Silver.

Silver's eyes widened as Omnimon began firing blue energy shots at him. But Silver was ready this time as he used his telekinesis stop them in mid-air. He then used his arm to send them flying back towards Omnimon at a fast rate. Omnimon quickly rolled out of the way to avoid the on-coming fire. Omnimon then charged after Silver with his Grey Sword again. Silver met the challenge head-on as he clashed with Omnimon's Grey Sword. The two warriors kept clashing, not showing signs of holding back from one another. This time, Silver got a little bit of an advantage as he slowly made Omnimon move backwards a couple of steps while the two continued clashing swords with each other.

"I see you are already getting better." Omnimon said, as he was defending himself from Silver's sword. "If you keep this up, your sword's energy will increase."

"Increase?" Silver asked when he stopped clashing with Omnimon.

"Take a look at your sword." Omnimon told him.

Silver looked at his sword to see that the white dragon was glowing brightly. "What's going on with my sword?"

"When your sword is used in battle for a long time, the dragons marking will glow. It will continue like this until you are ready to unleash your ultimate attack; Heaven's Light." Omnimon told him. "In order for this to work, you and I will have to continue fighting."

"That won't be a problem." Silver said, as he raised up his right arm and fired white energy shots from his cannon. The shots connected with Omnimon's chest area, sending him backwards a few steps with each shot that he was taking. Silver watched as Omnimon fell to one knee, trying to recover himself from those attacks he took.

Silver decided now would be the best time to go in for a direct attack as he sprinted towards Omnimon with his sword at the ready.

Omnimon looked up to see Silver coming towards him. Thinking fast, Omnimon raised his Garuru Cannon at Silver. "Supreme Cannon!"

The white hedgehog's eyes widened when he saw Omnimon firing a single blue energy shot at him. Silver used his sword to defend himself from the attack if he could. The shot did make contact with Silver, however, the light aura from the sword has protected him from getting frozen solid. Silver looked at his blade again to see that it was glowing very brightly this time. Was the sword already at it's full potential?

Omnimon seemed to notice this as well. "It looks like your sword is ready and waiting for you."

Silver looked at the blade a little longer until he nodded his head once and aimed it straight at Omnimon. When he got a good lock on the light Digimon, Silver was ready.

"Heaven's Light!"

As Silver shouted those words, the large rainbow-colored light in the shape of a dragon rocketed straight towards Omnimon at high speed. Omnimon tried to avoid it, but Silver wasn't going to let him get away with this. Silver used his psychic energy to control the light energy and direct it towards Omnimon's trail. Heaven's Light made contact with Omnimon's back, as the Digimon was sent flying forwards on his chest. He landed and slid across the ground in pain until he finally stopped himself.

The light from Silver's blade disappeared along with itself and the cannon as well. When they were gone, Silver walked over towards the fallen Omnimon to check up on him. "Are you all right?"

Omnimon slowly got back up to his feet and looked down at Silver. "I'm fine. But the most important thing is that you learned how to control Heaven's Light. By using your psychic abilities, you were able to control the attack and keep it's mark towards your opponent."

"Thank you." Silver nodded. "I am honored to hear you say that."

"Now that you have passed your trial, I shall tell you about the previous Dragon Lord of Light." Omnimon told him.

"What was he like?" Silver asked.

"It wasn't a he." Omnimon corrected him. "It was a she."

Silver was kinda surprised to hear this. "Really?"

"It was around 1500 years ago." Omnimon began. "It took place in Ancient Soleanna, where a female human named Aeris Prime was said to be the ancestor to the current ruler of Soleanna, Princess Elise."

Silver's eyes widened in shock. "Is that true?!"

"Yes." Omnimon answered. "Although Aeris was never a daughter of the royal bloodline, the people said that she was destined to be the Queen of Ancient Soleanna. It was rumored to that she had the power of Healing Touch. Whenever a person got sick, she could use her power to restore that person back to good health so everyone could be happy to go back to their normal lives."

"Was that rumor true?" Silver questioned.

"At the time, no." Omnimon replied.

Silver raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"One day, a woman's husband was mentally ill. She pleaded for Aeris to come and heal her husband back to normal health. Aeris complied and used her Healing Touch power to make her husband better." Omnimon paused briefly before continuing. "But something was wrong. Aeris had never used Healing Touch in her life before, and Aeris herself was worried at that moment. She had never thought she would have to use it at all."

"Did she still go through with it?" Silver wondered.

"I'm afraid not." Omnimon shook his head. "She had no confidence in herself to pull it off. And because of that, the husband had died. After that happened, people started to doubt her. They were beginning to think that she was a fraud because she didn't have the power of Healing Touch. So Aeris decided to do something unexpected; She ran away from Ancient Soleanna. Away from the one place where she was born and raised. She didn't want to look back at it, because she feared about her own abilities."

Silver was kinda shocked to hear this. "How far did she run?"

"She continued to run as far as her legs could carry her. As she traveled forward, Aeris then discovered an old wooden cabin, where an old woman lived by herself. Aeris went over there to see if she could stay and rest for a while. The old woman was kind enough to let her in, as she decided to give Aeris some treatment." Omnimon explained. "As Aeris was enjoying her stay, she and the old woman began talking and soon became friends. The old woman, then decided, to show Aeris a necklace and give it to her as a souvenir."

Silver seemed to be catching on to this. "Wait...this necklace...it wouldn't happen to be-"

"Yes." Omnimon nodded. "That necklace the old woman was holding turned out to be the Necklace of Light."

"But how did the necklace come into the old woman's possession?" Silver asked.

"I don't know." Omnimon answered. "But for some reason, she told Aeris that this necklace would rid of all the young woman's fears and she would regain confidence within herself." He paused for a moment before continuing. "So, after staying overnight at the old woman's cabin, Aeris decided to head back Ancient Soleanna, with the necklace wrapped around her neck."

"I see." Silver said. "So what happened when she got back?"

"Oddly enough, there was trouble. She heard that a mother's son was very sick, and some people gathered around the home to see this for themselves. Aeris decided to check this for herself to see it." Omnimon explained. "The people were surprised to see Aeris came back, but their doubts about her were still talking. Aeris knew that she would not lose her confidence, so she went inside to use her Healing Touch on the young boy. As she did this, her necklace glowed and the light was retracting towards the boy. The crowd was shocked to see this before their eyes, as they watched Aeris doing her magic."

"And...what happened after that?" Silver wondered.

"To everyone's surprise, it worked. The boy was healed and the mother was very happy. In fact, everyone was happy to see Aeris using her Healing Touch up close and personal. And shortly afterwards, Aeris Prime was named the Queen of Ancient Soleanna." Omnimon stopped again before continuing. "But sometime after she was named the Queen, the Dragon Elders had payed a visit to Aeris and said that she was the potential Dragon Lord of Light because of her healing powers and her kind pure heart. They also said that she, and seven other warriors, would band together to stop the Lord of Darkness"

A moment of silence had occurred, as Silver was taking a minute to gather in all this information. "That sounds very important. Does Princess Elise know about Aeris?"

"I don't know for sure, but maybe you should ask her yourself. At least until after you defeated Hellsing, that is.' Omnimon suggested.

"I'll do that." Silver nodded with a smirk.

"Before I send you back, I have something for you." Omnimon extended his left hand as a small bright light appeared, revealing to be a small stone that was designed with a white dragon's face on it. "It's the special technique I was talking about earlier."

Silver took the object from Omnimon's hand and looked at it up close. "What am I suppose to do with this?"

"You'll have to wait until you face Hellsing himself." Omnimon told him. "You don't have to worry about anything."

Silver looked at the white dragon's stone face for a moment longer before gripping it in his hand. "All right. I'll trust you by those words."

"Very well." Omnimon nodded. "Now stand still while I send you back." He raised his arms in the air as a glow of white light surrounded Silver.

The white hedgehog looked around at his glowing self as the light glowed at it's brightest until it finally died down. When it did, Silver the Hedgehog was gone.

Omnimon lowered his hands after he was done with his part. He looked up at the sky as a stray of wind blew through cape. "Take care of yourself, Dragon Lord of Light. I'm sure you'll make Aeris Prime proud."

* * *

**Another piece of history of the seven Dragon Lords has been passed on, as Silver passes Omnimon's trial. Will Silver be able to live up to Aeris's reputation? What are these strange dragon stones that the Element Guardians hold? And what will our other heroes learn about the previous Dragon Lords history? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**

**

* * *

**

Please choose the next character from below.

1) Sonic

2) Blaze

3) Larcen

4) Shadow

5) Kera


	22. Surviving the Tides

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Sailor Moon © Naoko Takeuchi

Chapter Twenty-Two: Surviving the Tides

**- Unknown Location -**

The scene shifts towards another unknown location. From what we could see, it had looked like an island that was filled with nothing but miles of ground and grass all over the place, even though it was surrounded by the beautiful blue ocean. The island itself looked stranded, which was the reason why it was very quiet.

As the ocean waves flapped near the sand, a flash of light appeared, revealing itself to be Sonic the Hedgehog. The blue hedgehog landed on the ground as he got a look around at his surroundings.

"Well, this places looks pretty peaceful." Sonic smiled. That was, until he got a good look at the ocean in front of him. "Uh...tell me that's not what I think it is, right?"

Unfortunately for Sonic, he was on an island. Sonic groaned in disappointment after realizing this.

"Now what am I suppose to do?" Sonic asked himself. "There's suppose to be a guardian here, but I don't see it. Perhaps I should take a look around."

But before Sonic could do that, he picked up a strange sounds in his ears. It was faint, but he could hear it nevertheless. He listened carefully to find out what that sound was.

"It kinda sounds like...music." Sonic thought. "I wonder if it's coming from this island?"

Deciding to follow the music's direction, Sonic dashed as fast as he could. As he was running, he could hear the music was getting closer with each second. He also wondered what kind of music was playing in the distance. He wasn't exactly sure, so he continued to follow it with his ears.

After a minute of running through the island, Sonic quickly skidded himself to a halt. The music leaded him to a large round-like pond that was surrounded by clear water. In the middle of the pond, he could see a large pillar standing there. He looked up to see that there was someone standing on the pillar.

"Wait a second..." Sonic narrowed his eyes. "I think I recognize that person."

We scan over towards the person standing on the pillar. The deep-blue hair, the white gloves, a navy sea-green skirt, sea green-heels that had criss-crossing straps up on the ankles, much like ballet slippers. Her upper body consisted of a white suit with a blue bow in the front, and a golden tiara on her head. This was, as of no doubt, Sailor Neptune. One of our previous heroes from seven months ago. She was currently playing violin with her eyes closed.

Sonic, being friendly as usual, decided to say hello. "Hey, Michelle! What's up?"

Michelle, which was also her real name, opened her eyes and looked down at blue hedgehog. She stopped playing her violin and set it down before jumping from the pillar and landing on the ground in front of Sonic. "Well, isn't this ironic? Seeing you again after seven months."

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Sonic asked.

"I am." Michelle nodded with a small smile. "It's just that I was expecting the Dragon Lord of Water to show up here. I didn't expect it to be you."

"Well, surprises come when you least expect it." Sonic smiled before changing the subject. "But wait, did you say something about...water?"

"Yes. You are the descendant of the Dragon Lord of Water." Michelle told him.

"But...I hate water!" Sonic whined. "How am I suppose to be something that I don't like?!"

"That's what the original Dragon Lord of Water thought herself." Michelle replied.

Sonic seemed confused by this. "How's that possible?"

"She was known as Kasumi the Crab." Michelle replied. "She lived in Ancient Chu-nan over 1500 years ago. As a young girl, she always had a love for swimming and the water. Whenever she felt stressed out or angry, she would always go out for a swim in the ocean. She loved the water so much, that she actually wanted to study the secrets behind the water itself. On how it would give life to people, plants, and other living things."

"And it worked out for her, right?" Sonic wondered.

"No." Sailor Neptune shook her head. "That changed her mind one fateful day."

"What happened?" Sonic asked.

"There was a tsunami that caused Ancient Chu-nan. It caused the whole city to drown itself, killing just about everyone that lived there." Michelle explained. "Except for Kasumi. The waves of the tsunami dragged the poor girl into the ocean, where she was swept away by the ocean water.

"But...she survived, didn't she?" Sonic asked.

"She did." Michelle replied. "She was stranded on an island when she woke up. She had no memory on how she ended up there, but she did remember about the tragic turn of events that had happened. Thanks to that tsunami, she had lost her family, her friends, and everyone else that she had known and loved. And for this reason alone, her fear of the ocean water had occurred." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Since she was washed up on that island, she had to find some way to survive and find a way off the island. However, it took lot longer than expected. Mainly because, she had no experience on how to build raft. But that didn't stop her, so she continued onwards until she found a way to get off the island. When she was searching for supplies, she stumbled upon a blue necklace that was partly buried in the ground."

"Wait, was this necklace suppose to be the one I'm wearing?" Sonic wondered.

"It's that same one." Michelle answered. "She didn't know about the necklace's true nature, but she decided to keep it with her for good luck."

"Hmm..." Sonic hummed to himself. "So how long did it take her until she left the island?"

"One long year. She wasn't physically strong, and sometimes, she was known to pass out from exhaustion. But regardless, she didn't give up. She continued to work on her raft until it was well-ready to take off into the seas. Once she was ready, she got on her raft, and made her escape. The tides were strong, but Kasumi wouldn't give in until she found land. At point during her journey, a large storm caused the waves to grow more violent than usual. It grew to a point where the ocean tides came over Kasumi and destroyed the raft that she worked so hard on. Kasumi was still alive though because she managed to stay above water. That's when the necklace around her neck started to glow. Her fear of water soon began to fade away and pointed her in the direction on where she needed to go. Now determined, she quickly swam towards the necklace's direction until she had returned back to her homeland." Michelle finished.

Sonic's eyes widened. "She swam that far?!"

"Thanks to the necklace, her strength in the water never went away. That was the reason why she never ran out of stamina." Michelle replied. "As soon as Kasumi returned to her homeland, she noticed that the town had been rebuilt by new travelers. Before she could get a chance to explore the place, the Dragon Elders had approached her and said that she was one of the chosen Dragon Lords because of her bravery and her confidence of water on her side.. They also said that she, and seven other warriors, would be chosen to fight the dark one and return peace to the world."

Sonic took a minute to gather in on what he had just heard. "So, your saying that I have to overcome my fear of water?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Michelle replied.

Sonic still wasn't comfortable about this. Especially meaning that he would have to face his greatest fear. "Uh...listen, can you convince these Dragon Lords to pick someone else for water? I mean, you know that I hate water, and all."

Michelle narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't tell me your running scared, are you?"

"I-I'm serious!" Sonic said sheepishly.

"The Dragon Elders have chosen you to be the Dragon Lord of Water, Sonic. And if you want to be anything like your descendant, then you have to pass this trial and overcome your fear of water." Michelle told him."

"But Michelle-"

"Call me Sailor Neptune, from now on." She corrected him.

Suddenly, the area around them began to change. What we could once see the pillar and clear pond has been magically replaced with a round circular island that was again surrounded by the clear blue ocean, and the island itself was filled with nothing but sand.

"Now, let's start off with something simple." Sailor Neptune began. "Try to avoid my attacks."

Sonic was a little hesitant at first, but seeing as he had no choice, he nodded his head and got into a stance. "All right. Bring it on!"

Sailor Neptune raised her arms in the air, as she began to stir up water from the sea while it began to form into a large glowing ball of water.

_"Neptune Deep Submerge!"_

As Sailor Neptune called upon those words, she threw the large glowing orb towards Sonic's direction. The blue hedgehog quickly dashed out of the way to avoid the attack, as the blue glowing energy crashed down on the sand. Sonic was already standing there with a smirk on his face.

"Is that the best you got?" Sonic boasted.

"Don't get overconfident, Sonic." Sailor Neptune warned him. "Otherwise, you just might regret it."

"Really? Then just try me." Sonic challenged her.

Sailor Neptune nodded as she raised her arms in the air again.

_"Neptune Deep Submerge!"_

Sonic tapped his foot as he waited for Sailor Neptune to form up another glowing orb from within her hands. But unknowingly to him, he didn't notice the large tidal wave that was coming from behind him. The water formed itself into another glowing orb before charging itself towards Sonic. Before the blue hedgehog could turn around, the attack was successful as Sonic was sent flying forwards until he landed face-first on the sand.

Sonic rose back up as he dusted the sand off his face. "Man, talk about a bad landing."

"It wouldn't be as bad if you learned how to combine your abilities with water." Sailor Neptune told him.

"And how am I suppose to do that?" Sonic asked, still feeling uneasy about this.

"It's OK. I'll help you out a little." Sailor Neptune reassured him before continuing. "To begin with, concentrate on your necklace by closing your eyes." She instructed.

"All right..." Sonic took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He waited for a few moments until his necklace started to glow brightly. A large amount of water came from within the necklace as it formed itself around Sonic's body like a ring. Sonic looked down at the ring that surrounded him. "What's this suppose to be?"

"It's your water ring." Sailor Neptune answered. "You can use that to combine your speed with your water energy."

"So...what am I suppose to do? Fight you with this?" Sonic asked.

"Not me." Sailor Neptune shook her head. "Your going to use your new abilities against this."

That's when something popped out of the water, as it flew high into the sky before landing on the ground with it's feet. This figure turned out to be a sky-blue unicorn pink hair on it's head, green eyes, white wings, and a yellow horn attached to it's head. The unicorn glared at our blue hero, looking as if it was ready to fight.

Sonic grinned at this. "Well it looks like that thing doesn't want to waste anytime."

And with those words said, the unicorn hovered in the air with it's wings as it charged after Sonic head-first with it's horn. Sonic easily dashed out of the way as the unicorn passed him. The unicorn took flight into the air as Sonic got into a stance. He watched, as the unicorn headed towards Sonic with it's horn at the ready again. This time, Sonic decided to meet the unicorn with a head-on challenge by curling himself into a ball and spin-dashing towards unicorn at high speed. However, that didn't turn out so well. The horn was the stronger than the spin-dash, which caused the hedgehog to bounce back towards the ground. However, Sonic was lucky enough to uncurl himself and land back on his feet.

"I guess attacking that thing head-on is not a good idea." Sonic thought.

"At your normal pace, no. But, combine your spin-dash with your water energy, and you will be able to protect yourself from it's horn attacks." Sailor Neptune told him.

"Hmm..." Sonic thought that wasn't a bad idea. "All right, then. It sounds like that might help me."

"You better think fast." Sailor Neptune pointed out. "It's coming towards you again."

Sonic looked up to see the unicorn coming towards him again. "All right, this time I'm not going to go down."

The blue hedgehog concentrated on his necklace as he began to curl himself into a ball again as he spin-dashed towards the unicorn. The water ring around Sonic began to combine itself with the blue buzz-saw as Sonic was now a spinning watery buzz-saw ready to make contact with the unicorn. And sure enough, the watery blue buzz-saw splashed right into the unicorn's head, knocking the horse-like creature back down to the ground, along with Sonic.

Sonic was the first to land on the ground while the unicorn managed to land on it's feet while trying to shake the effects it suffered from that water-sized spin attack. When it recovered, it returned to glare at Sonic.

"Heh, that must've worked pretty well. The only down thing is that I made this guy a little angry." Sonic said with a smirk.

"Try not to underestimate your opponent, Sonic." Sailor Neptune noted. "If you do, you're going to end up regretting it."

"No worries." Sonic winked at her. "I got this."

The blue hedgehog concentrated on his necklace again as he curled himself into a ball while the water energy around him covered his blue-round form as Sonic spin-dashed towards the unicorn again. However, the unicorn countered by gathering up electricity from within it's horn. While it was charging, the unicorn stampeded towards the blue buzz-saw with it's feet. The two attacks collided, with the unicorn gaining the advantage. Sonic was shocked by the electricity as he uncurled himself while being sent on his back in pain.

Sonic groaned as he slowly got back to his feet. He looked up to see the unicorn charging at him with it's electric horn. Thinking quickly, Sonic dashed out of the way to avoid being run-down by the unicorn again. When he was out of the way, Sonic was able to catch his breath breath for a moment.

"This fight has only just started...and yet that horse is already putting up a heck of a fight." Sonic said, somewhat impressed by this.

"Don't give up yet, Sonic." Sailor Neptune said. "There's more than one way to make a comeback."

Sonic loved hearing those kind of words. He looked over at the unicorn to see that it was charging after him with it's horn storing up more electrical energy. He stared at the horn for a moment until an idea popped into his head. He quickly concentrated on his necklace again as it started to glow brightly. As it did this, another water ring was form around Sonic's body again. When Sonic had this, he put his plan into motion.

"Sonic Tornado!"

Shouting these words, Sonic spinned himself in a watery cyclone. The watery cyclone spinned itself towards the unicorn at a fast rate. And sure enough, the cyclone caught the unicorn as the electricity from the horn had engulfed the cyclone. And inside, we could see the unicorn getting electrocuted over and over again thanks to the spinning cyclone, and add to the fact that it was made of water. This continued for several moments until the cyclone had finally died down and the unicorn had fell to the ground, defeated.

Over with Sonic, he was already on his feet, looking refreshed with a smirk on his face. He saw that the unicorn started to disappear with magical dust that carried it back to the ocean water. When it was gone, Sailor Neptune approached Sonic.

"Well done, Sonic." Sailor Neptune smiled. "Because of your quick speed and you overcome your fear of water, you have passed your trial."

"Thanks." Sonic said with a thumbs up.

"And as a token that you passed, I want you to take this." Sailor Neptune pulled out another dragon stone that had the head of a blue dragon on it and handed it over to Sonic.

Sonic took the stone in his gloved-hand and looked at it. He seemed confused. "What's this suppose to be? A souvenir?"

"Hardly. This is a Dragon Stone. Each of us seven guardians hold these for the Dragon Lords to use against the Lord of Darkness." Sailor Neptune answered.

"And how am I suppose to use it?" Sonic asked.

"You'll have to wait until you face the dark one yourself." Sailor Neptune told him. "Now, stand still. I'm going to send you back."

"Huh?" Sonic had a confused expression on his face.

Saior Neptune raised her arms in the air as the blue necklace around Sonic began to glow. The light around Sonic slowly began to glow brighter and brighter until he magically disappeared into thin air.

When Sonic was gone, Sailor Neptune turned towards the ocean. Her eyes gazed at the water as she picked up her violin from the ground and slowly set it in her arms. She then slowly began to play it again as the sun shined brightly over the small island. "I'm sure that peace will come thanks to you, Sonic the Hedgehog; Dragon Lord of Water."

* * *

**Sonic manages to overcome his greatest fear thanks to an old friend of the Water Guardian; Sailor Neptune. Will he be able to keep calm whenever he's around water again? What do the other trials await for our heroes? And will they be able to adapt to their new abilities within the necklaces? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**

**

* * *

**

Please choose the next character from below.

**1) Blaze**

**2) Larcen**

**3) Shadow**

**4) Kera**


	23. Thunderous Chaos

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Mortal Kombat © Midway

Chapter Twenty-Three: Thunderous Chaos

**- Unknown Location -**

The scene shifts towards a new location. From the looks of the place, it looked like Chu-nan. The only difference about this was that there was no houses or dojos to be seen here. There were a few hills, but they were small. And the sky above looked dark, which would pretty much look like nighttime. However, there were a lot of clouds to be seen above the location. And they were dark as well.

As everything looked dark, a flash of light appeared in the middle of the new location. The light revealed itself to be Shadow the Hedgehog. The Ultimate Life Form landed on his feet as he looked around at his new surroundings.

"Hmm...it looks to be dark out here." Shadow said to himself. A slightly chilly breeze passed by him as he looked up at the clouds above him. "Well, this is great." He said without amusement.

The black hedgehog looked in one direction to see how far the clouds were traveling from. "They seem to be closing over here pretty fast. I'm guessing they might be thunder clouds."

"That is exactly it, Dragon Lord of Thunder." A strange voice said.

Shadow raised an eyebrow at the new voice. "Who's there? Show yourself!" He quickly turned around, only to see something in front of him.

What Shadow was seeing was a new figure sitting on a hill that was a couple of feet high from where Shadow was at. This figure was a male human wearing a coolie hat on his head along with long white hair, and glowing blue eyes. He was wearing a white robe that looked to be hiding something, and he also had a quarterstaff laying there next to him. Right now, the male human was sitting with his legs crossed, as if he was meditating.

Deciding to get a closer look at this person, Shadow jumped towards the hill and landed in front of him. "Who are you? Are you suppose to be the Guardian of Thunder?"

The male human looked into Shadow's red eyes with a small smile on his face. "Indeed I am. You may call me Raiden."

Shadow was a little weirded out, but he didn't let that little setback overtake him. "Tell me what I need to do in order to defeat this Lord of Darkness."

"Relax, Shadow." Raiden said calmly. "Take a seat and meditate with me."

Seeing as how this guy wasn't going to talk right off the bat, Shadow decided to do what he said and sit down while staring at Raiden, whom closed his eyes again while meditating. "So what are you suppose to be? A monk?"

"...You could say that." Raiden replied slowly. "Then again, I am known as many other things. For example, from where I come from, I am known as the God of Thunder."

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "God of Thunder?" The black hedgehog closed his eyes and smiled a little after hearing this statement. "No wonder these Dragon Elders chose you to be a guardian."

Raiden chuckled lightly. "And it's no wonder the Dragon Elders chose you to be the descendant of the Dragon Lord of Thunder. You are known as the Ultimate Life Form, after all."

Shadow's eyes snapped open. "How do you know about me?"

"The Dragon Elders see everything that's going on in the world. Their existence is to seek out the descendants of the seven Dragon Lords so that they can form together and destroy Hellsing for eternity." Raiden answered.

"And this necklace tells me that I'm one of them." Shadow said, as he looked down at his necklace.

"Indeed." Raiden said as he stood back on his feet and grabbed his quarterstaff. "Now, it is time for your training to begin." With that, he ran towards the edge of the small cliff and did a front flip towards the ground, and landed on his feet. He then turned back to Shadow. "Come down here, Shadow."

Shadow got back to his feet and simply jumped down from the small cliff. "So what am I suppose to do?"

"For starters, let me see your abilities in combat against me." Raiden replied as he set down his quarterstaff and got into a fighting stance.

Shadow seemed a little amused by this. "Your seriously kidding me, are you?"

"Why would I not?" Raiden asked with a smirk.

"All right, then." Shadow narrowed his eyes at him. "Let's see if you can keep up with me."

Without wasting much time, Shadow jumped at Raiden with his fist aimed at the immortals face. Raiden used his hand to block Shadow's fist as he used his right palm to strike Shadow in the stomach. The black hedgehog was sent flying backwards as he landed on his feet while skidding on the ground to a halt. Shadow wasn't fazed by this, so he continued his quickly attacks as he tried a homing attack to Raiden's chest. Raiden, however, was able to side-step to the side as Shadow passed right by him. But just as Shadow was passing him, Raiden was able to strike Shadow with a hard chop to the back, sending Shadow flying forwards until he was able to stop himself by landing on the ground and turning his attention back towards Raiden.

"That was too slow, in my opinion." Raiden stated calmly. "You want to try again?"

After recovering from the blow that he had received from Raiden, Shadow nodded once and got back into a fighting stance. "That was just luck. You won't be so fortunate this time."

With those words said, Shadow skated towards Raiden before jumping in the air while gathering energy within his hands.

"Chaos Spear!"

Shadow lunged a Chaos Spear towards Raiden at high speed. However, Raiden countered this move by releasing a hand of electricity from his hand and launched it towards the Chaos Spear. The attacks collided together, but they were both cancelled out at the same time.

Raiden smiled as his finger was sparking with electricity. "I don't think so." His eyes started to glow white as more electricity was gathering from within his hand until he created a lightning bolt. He then launched it towards Shadow at a fast rate.

The black hedgehog's eyes widened as he jumped to the side to avoid the electric bolt from attacking him. He looked over to see that Raiden was sliding across the ground as he thrusted his fist into Shadow's stomach. The force of the blow was enough to knock Shadow backwards and electrocuting him at the same time.

Shadow, despite being electrocuted, somehow managed to get to his feet. He looked over to see that Raiden had disappeared. "Where did he go?"

His answer, unknowingly, came from behind him. Raiden had teleported behind Shadow and super-kicked him, knocking the black hedgehog forwards again while landing on the ground in pain.

Shadow was still able to get to his feet. He looked behind him to see that Raiden was flying at him at high speed. Thinking quickly, Shadow came up with something. "Chaos Control!"

At the right moment, Shadow had disappeared in a flash of light, just as Raiden had passed him. The God of Thunder stopped himself in mid-air and landed back on the ground. Raiden looked around to see where Shadow had disappeared to. Little did he know that Shadow had reappeared behind him and roundhouse kicked him in the back of the head, knocking Raiden off of his feet and landed on the ground.

Shadow landed back on his feet and stared at Raiden, as the immortal got back to his feet. Raiden looked over to see Shadow standing still with a look of determination on his face.

"Hmm...it seems you haven't lost your touch in combat." Raiden said with interest.

"I could say the same to you." Shadow added.

"However, with those skills alone, you won't be able to defeat the Lord of Darkness." Raiden told him.

"Let me guess; I have to use my necklace's powers in order to even stand a chance against him?" Shadow questioned.

"Exactly." Raiden nodded once in reply. "Now, concentrate your mind on your necklace."

Shadow closed his eyes and did just that. A moment later, his necklace started to glow as he felt an electrical surge going through his body. His red eyes also seemed to have an affect as well. We could see there was a hint of electricity sparking every now and then. He looked around at himself. "That was strange. I felt a shock just now."

"That was the power of your Thunder Necklace." Raiden told him. "Now you can tap into your powers of thunder and use it to defend yourself against the dark one."

"Is that so...?" Shadow looked at himself before smirking a little. "In that case, I think we should resume our fight and see how these new abilities of mine work."

"Straight to the point, I see." Raiden said, as he picked up his quarterstaff and got into a fighting stance. "Very well. Let's begin again."

Like before, Shadow jumped in the air and did a homing attack towards the immortal thunder god. Raiden used his quarterstaff to defend himself from the incoming attack. But unexpectedly, he didn't notice the electricity surging from the homing attack, which made contact, broke through the defense of the quarterstaff, and attacked Raiden in the chest. The impact caused Raiden to slide backwards on his feet, but he managed to stop himself before going back any further. Raiden fought back by releasing a surge of electricity from his hand towards Shadow. The black hedgehog skated out of the way just before the electricity was able to shock him. Shadow skated back towards Raiden and jumped at him with his fist. Raiden used his right hand to defend himself from this attack, as Shadow kept throwing punches and kicks at the immortal thunder god. Raiden swinged his quarterstaff at Shadow, but the black hedgehog used his arm to catch it in mid-air. With amazing strength, Shadow used his arms to throw it and Raiden at a decent distance.

As Raiden was in the air, he quickly used his quarterstaff to slam it in the ground and turn himself around, launching himself towards Shadow at high speed. Shadow saw this coming as he quickly jumped in the air and created a surge of bright electric energy in his hands.

"Chaos Lightning Spear!"

After shouting those words, Shadow lunged a bright electric Chaos Spear towards Raiden at a fast rate. The electric Chaos Spear managed to stop Raiden's fast momentum in mid-air. Once Shadow landed on the ground, he skated towards Raiden and did an surging electric homing attack towards Raiden, sending him flying backwards towards a wall. Before Raiden could hit the wall, he used his feet to stop himself and created a wave of electricity from his quarterstaff. He pushed himself off the wall and swinged his weapon, causing electricity to fly towards Shadow at high speed. Shadow took this by surprise as the electricity was able to strike him and send him flying backwards and landing on his back.

As Shadow was getting himself back, he saw that Raiden was sliding towards him, like before. Shadow wasn't going to fall for this a second time.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow shouted, as time began to slow itself down. He quickly skated towards the slow-moving Raiden and did another surging electrical homing attack to Raiden's stomach, sending him flying backwards again before landing on his back in pain.

Time moved normal again as Raiden got back to his feet. He saw that Shadow was skating towards him, looking like he was about to attack again. Thinking quickly, Raiden teleported in the blink of an eye. Shadow quickly stopped himself to see what had just happened.

"He must've teleported again. But where?" Shadow asked himself. That's when it came into his memory. "Unless..."

Raiden had reappeared behind Shadow in order to strike him again. But before that could happen, Shadow himself had teleported, probably because of the use of Chaos Control. Raiden took a look around to see where Shadow would be able to reappear next.

"Chaos Lightning Spear!"

At the sounds of that voice, Raiden turned around, only to receive an electrical Chaos Spear to the stomach. The caused the immortal thunder god to be paralyzed, not being able to move at all.

Over with Shadow, we could see he was glowing a dark red electrical aura around himself. His eyes eyes were sparking very fast at this point. "Now Raiden, you will now experience my true power!"

Raiden could only watch as the aura around Shadow began to glow at it's brightest.

"Chaos Thunder Blast!" Shadow shouted at the top of his lungs.

At those loud words, a large thunder booming sounds came from the sky as a lightning bolt hit Shadow, as the black hedgehog unleashed an explosion of dark red electricity from within himself. The blast was more than enough to make Raiden go flying backwards until he crashed into a wall at a fast rate.

As the blast ended, Shadow's electric eyes were no longer sparking as he was back to his normal self. After taking a second to recover himself, Shadow walked over towards Raiden, who surprising was able to recover himself from that thunderous explosion.

Raiden smiled a little. "Well done, Shadow. It looks like you have proven yourself to be the descendant of the Dragon Lord of Thunder. Now, as a reward, I'm going to tell you about the previous Dragon Lord of Thunder's history."

"Is it important?" Shadow asked.

"It is." Raiden replied before sitting down on the ground. "Come have a seat and rest yourself while we chat."

Seeing no other choice, Shadow decided to sit in front of Raiden. "So, what was this person like?"

"He was a very simple-minded person. He was known as Yarisa the Crow." Raiden replied.

Shadow closed his eyes and smirked to himself. "Nice name."

"Indeed." Raiden nodded once before continuing. "Over 1500 years ago, he lived in Ancient Adabat. He was originally born in Ancient Apotos, but he didn't live there for very long, so he and his family moved to Ancient Adabat, seeing as how it was a more quiet place. As a person, he never liked a lot of new people he had never met before and always intended to think on his own accord. However, he did love parents and always thought of them before anything else. And as proof of this, he was given a yellow necklace from his parents."

"Yellow necklace?" Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"That's right. It was the Necklace of Thunder he had been given as a gift." Raiden answered.

"But did his parents know about the necklace's power?" Shadow wondered.

"They did. But they never told him that. They felt that he wouldn't understand if they told him about it." Raiden explained. "But he soon found out, afterwards."

"How?" Shadow wondered.

"One night, there was a huge storm over Ancient Adabat. Everyone who lived there went to seek shelter before the storm could strike. Yarisa's parents were also seeking shelter. However, they had accidentally left Yarisa behind." Raiden said slowly.

Shadow seemed a little surprised to hear this. "They left him behind?"

"They were too worried about the storm and their thoughts were to simply find shelter." Raiden answered.

"What happened to Yarisa?" Shadow questioned.

"He was asleep as the storm approached Ancient Apotos. When he heard the first signs of thunder, he immediately woke up from his sleep and noticed what was going on outside. So he quickly went downstairs with his necklace around his neck, and went to see the storm up close. When he got outside, he noticed that everyone in town was gone. Including his parents. He called out to them, but they were nowhere to be found." Raiden pointed out. "And then, something unexpected happened."

"...What?" Shadow wondered.

"A surge of lightning came from out of the clouds and was about to strike Yarisa. The young crow was too shocked to move, so he tried to use his arms to defend himself. And just before the lightning could hit him, the yellow necklace glowed and cancelled out the entire storm that had covered all of Ancient Apotos." Raiden told him.

"Just like that?" Shadow asked.

"Yarisa was surprised himself to see that the storm had disappeared. He then noticed that his necklace was glowing brightly. He had wondered how his necklace was doing this. He then thought about the storm that had disappeared just a moment ago. He must've realized that his necklace was able to control the weather in some way." Raiden explained. "And then, he was greeted by the Dragon Elders."

"The Dragon Elders? Did they just magically appear in front of him?" Shadow questioned.

"That's what Yarisa believed." Raiden replied. "The Dragon Elders told him about what was going on and said that he was one of the seven Dragon Lords to fight the Lord of Darkness, because of his bravery and because of the events that had happened not long ago."

"But what about his parents?" Shadow asked.

"It was said that they had disappeared after the storm had hit. No one, not even Yarisa, knew where they were located." Raiden answered.

"Hmm..." Shadow hummed to himself, thinking about how those events that had happened over 1500 years ago in his head.

"Ah, that reminds me!" Raiden said, like he remembered something. "There is something that I must give you." He reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a dragon stone that had the shape of a yellow dragon's head on it. "This is a Dragon Stone. Each one of the Dragon Lords are suppose to receive one of these in order to fight the dark one."

Shadow took the Dragon Stone from Raiden and looked at it up close with his eyes. "This is suppose to help me fight this Lord of Darkness?"

"Do you doubt me?" Raiden asked.

"...No. I don't." Shadow said as he grasped the Dragon Stone in his gloved-hand and put it in an unknown pocket of his fur.

"Now that you have passed my trial, I shall now you send back." Raiden said, as he raised his arms in the air.

A strike of thunder came from the sky and boomed towards Shadow. When the lightning bolt hit, Shadow was already gone.

Raiden lowered his arms and got into a meditating position. "Take good care, Dragon Lord of Thunder. Just know that facing your fears is the only way to conquer them."

* * *

**The storm has been cleared, and Shadow manages to pass his trial setup by the immortal thunder god, Raiden. With only three more trials to go, how will our remaining heroes fare against the other Element Guardians? What are the meanings of these Dragon Stones? And what new abilities will we expect from these necklaces? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**

**

* * *

**

**Please choose the next character from below.**

**1) Blaze**

**2) Larcen**

**3) Kera**


	24. Controlling Flames

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Pokemon © Nintendo

Chapter Twenty-Four: Controlling Flames

**- Unknown Location -**

The scene shifts towards a new location. From what we could tell, we could see a couple of volcano's along that also came along with a few mountains. The place almost looked like a mix of Wild Canyon, minus the ruins, and Red Canyon, which was filled with lava and fire. The sky was also dark, as well. And the heat around this place seemed to radiate every now and then.

In the middle of it all, a flash of light appeared. And out of the light revealed to be Blaze the Cat. The guardian of the Sol Emeralds landed on the ground as she looked around at her new surroundings.

"The heat here is unwavering." She said. "It almost feels like it's being controlled by something." Blaze noticed the volcanoes that were present. "I'm willing to say that they are coming from those volcanoes."

As Blaze was thinking about investigating the volcanoes, a loud roar was heard. Blaze quickly turned in the direction in where the roar came from. That's when her eyes widened. "What is that?"

We zoom over to see what Blaze was looking at. What she was seeing was a new figure that looked to be a lion-type of creature. It was covered in brown fur with a long, thick mane covering it's neck. It had gray plates surrounding the cape that makes it look as if smoke is coming out of a crater on it's back, and a plate beneath the cream fur on it's chest. It had white paws with apparently retractable claws and brown paw pads, and black cuff-like bands on it's legs. The creature's face was red with a white plate that resembles a handlebar mustache on it's face, and a three-pointed yellow crest on it's forehead.

The creature looked down at Blaze as it paced down the mountain at a fast pace. It wasn't as fast as Sonic, but it was still moving pretty fast. In short time, the creature made a huge leap across the air as it landed on the ground a few feet away from Blaze. When it stopped itself, the creature looked at Blaze's eyes. "Are you the one that is supposedly to be called the Dragon Lord of Fire?"

"That's what I am." Blaze replied. "And who are you?"

"I am Entei." The creature replied with a deep voice, despite not moving it's mouth to talk. "I am the Guardian of Fire."

"Entei..." Blaze said slowly.

"You are the princess of a different dimension and the guardian of the Sol Emeralds." Entei told her. "Am I right?"

Blaze seemed a little surprised to hear this, but did not let it show on her face. "You know about me?"

"The Dragon Elders are ancient beings who have lived for over a century, and they see everything that goes on in the world. Everything that's happened in your world affects what will happen in the future." Entei explained.

_"It sounds like something Mephiles would've said if he were still alive." _Blaze thought to herself. "The Dragon Elders said that the Element Guardians hold a secret power that can defeat Hellsing and stop the darkness from spreading before it's too late."

Entei turned it's head as it looked up at the sky. "That is correct. But the only way for the descendants of the Dragon Lords to earn this power is to pass the trials that lay before them." The legendary Pokemon turned towards Blaze. "Are you willing to go through with this?"

Blaze nodded her head. "I am."

"Very well, then." Entei said, as it jumped backwards once before speaking again. "I shall teach you about your necklace's abilities as the basic start."

All of a sudden, the ground rumbled itself. At first, it looked liked the the volcanoes were about to erupt itself. However, that wasn't the case. Instead, something popped out of the hard ground. What we were seeing was a giant seven-foot tall beetle. It's body was made out of hard stone, and we could also see the bright glowing yellow eyes that were giving off a spiritual look. It had a long horn, it's arms and legs were very flexible, despite it being made out of stone. The beetle gave out a loud screech in the sky before staring it's attention at Blaze.

The purple cat stood her ground as she laid eyes on the stone-like beetle. "So you want me to fight this thing?"

"Yes." Entei replied. "I will guide you through as you fight this monster that is set before you."

Blaze turned her attention towards the stone-like beetle, as the creature began opened it's mouth and fired incoming meteors towards the purple cat. Blaze dashed out of the away as the meteors kept missing their target. As Blaze continued running, she created a ball of fire in her hands and released it towards the stone beetle. Much to her surprise, the fire attacks didn't work on it.

_"What happened?"_ Blaze asked herself. _"How come my attacks had no effect?"_

As she was still surprised about what just happened, the stone beetle opened it's mouth and fired a stream of water towards Blaze. The purple cat's eyes widened in surprise, but she remained calm as she jumped in the air just as the water passed her. While in mid-air, Blaze spinned herself and around as a small steak of fire surrounded her heels and did what looked like Rouge's drill kick towards the stone beetle's head. The attack was successful, but it only seemed to faze rather than damaging it. The stone beetle staggered leaned backwards, almost looking like it was about to fall on it's back, but was able to maintain it's balance and stay on it's feet.

Blaze narrowed her eyes at the creature, seeing as how it was still alive. What was she suppose to so in order to defeat this thing?

"You have already noticed that at your current state, you cannot defeat this creature. If you want to make your fire powers stronger, then you'll have to concentrate your mind on your necklace." Entei told her.

"My necklace..." She looked down at her red necklace that was hanging around her neck.

"Do not worry about the creature." Entei said. "It is only a spirit that cannot harm you while you are concentrating on your hidden powers."

After hearing about this, Blaze closed her eyes and concentrated everything on her necklace. After a moment, her necklace started to glow with a bright red aura. Then suddenly, the red aura started to form something in front of Blaze. It looked like a bow and arrow. The bow was colored light-purple like Blaze's fur, and the arrows were colored red. Blaze opened her eyes and saw the weapons that were floating in front of her.

"What is this?" Blaze asked. "They look like bow and arrows."

"That is what the previous Dragon Lord of Fire used to help her long ago. This weapon's name is also known as Molten Flare." Enter answered. "Now it has been passed on to you as the descendant of the Dragon Lord of Fire."

Blaze took the bow and arrows and looked at them. She had seen these in action before, but she honestly never had used something like this before. But whatever the weapon, she decided to use it without complaint. She grabbed out a bow and quickly aimed at the stone beetle. However, she accidentally let go of the bowstring too soon as the arrow flew into the air, obviously missing it's target.

"Shoot!" Blaze shouted in disappointment.

But what she didn't notice was that the her necklace started to glow again. The arrow that was in the air stopped itself and pointed itself downwards at the stone beetle. The arrow engulfed itself with pure raging flames as it flew downwards towards the stone beetle and blasted through it's back, causing a fire start on the bug creature. The beetle cried itself in pain and agony before it slow started to disappear until it was completely melted into ash.

Blaze was confused. "What happened? I missed, but the arrow still got it."

"Your necklace triggered itself when you were in panic. That's why the arrow switched it's position and was still able to hit it's mark." Entei explained.

Blaze looked at her bow and arrow again. Even though she had never used this weapon before, she was able to hit something on her first try. "Does this only happen whenever I start to panic?"

"The Fire Necklace can trigger your instant feelings." Entei stated.

"Even emotion?" Blaze wondered.

"Yes." Entei replied. "The Fire Necklace can sense feelings hidden inside yourself, despite not showing it in front of others."

Blaze lowered her head after hearing this. It felt like, to her, her secrets were already being exposed to the world. She didn't really have any secrets, but her personality can be somewhat questionable at times.

"Now that you were able to summon your weapon, let us see if you are able to take it's test properly." Entei said, as he let out a roar.

The ground started to rumble again until two large stone pillars revealed themselves. Blaze wondered what these pillars were here for.

"I want you to use your bow and arrow to break down these pillars at the same time within one shot." Entei explained.

"One shot?" Blaze wondered.

"It might sound impossible, but combine it with your necklace's powers, and you will be able to pull it off." Entei said. "Take out one arrow, and get a tight grip on it's bowstring."

Doing what he said, Blaze pulled out another arrow and and stretched it across the bowstring. It took her a moment for her to get her aiming straight, but she was able to get it and concentrated on the stone pillars.

"Concentrate your necklace again." Entei instructed. "Once you feel your power has awakened, yell out the words 'Phoenix Flare Blitz' and release your bowstring at that time."

Blaze held on to her grip with the bowstring as she concentrated her mind on her necklace again. The red glowing aura around her body started to affect her bow and arrow as well. When it was glowing brighter, Blaze's eyes turned fiery red.

"Phoenix Flare Blitz!" Blaze shouted, as she released her bowstring, letting the arrow fly around in a fast circle around the two pillars. As this was going on, the flames on the arrow started to react as they formed a flaming phoenix that looked to be circling the two pillars while flying through the air. That's when the phoenix arrow flew downwards and broke through the two pillars, which resulted in them crashing down to the ground. The pillars were already crumbled and broken as soon as the phoenix arrow disappeared from sight.

Blaze seemed a little impressed by what she just witnessed. "Amazing..." She looked down at her bow and arrow. "This ordinary weapon has the power of flames, much like myself. I wonder how this weapon got like this?"

"It was because of the previous Dragon Lord of Fire was a skilled marksman back in her time." Entei spoke up.

"A skilled marksman?" Blaze asked.

"Her name was Heather Onix. She was born and raised in Ancient Adabat. She was a human that had learned archery from her mother and father. They were both skilled marksman that had always defended themselves from intruders that would try to invade their home. And each time it would happen, Heather's parents would always stand tall, no matter how outnumbered they seemed." Entei explained.

"But why would anyone want to do that?" Blaze asked.

"Because Heather's parents were guarding an important secret. It was so important, that they had to do whatever it takes to protect it. No matter the cost." Entei answered.

Blaze was taking a moment to gather this in. "This secret...what was it?"

"That secret..." Entei paused by looking at Blaze. "...Is what you are wearing right now."

"...My necklace?" Blaze wondered. "Was it because of the Lord of Darkness?"

"That is right." Entei nodded once. "Not only that, but that necklace also served as a key to a secret weapon."

That's when it caught up to Blaze. "You mean this bow and arrow?"

"Yes. That weapon was created by the Dragon Elders themselves. They entrusted it to Heather's parents as guardians. They told them to protect it with their lives and to make sure it does not fall into the hands of evil." Entei explained. "Heather's parents said that when she was old enough, they would pass the guardianship to their daughter."

"And did that happen?" Blaze asked.

"It did happen." Entei turned his head towards the sky. "But on an unfortunate day."

Blaze was listening closely to this tale.

"Years had passed, and Heather was just about to turn 18. But one day, a band of druids entered Ancient Adabat. It was said that they were after the treasure that Heather's parents were guarding." Entei said. "But Heather's parents weren't going to give it up without a fight. So they held them off with their archery skills. But each time they took out a druid, more druids began to take their place and Heather's parents were running out of arrows. Fearing the worst, they turned towards their daughter and told her to take the necklace and flee Ancient Adabat. They told her to go to flee the place and go to the Hall of Dragons."

"But what about her parents?" Blaze questioned.

"They told her not to cry and not worry about them. They said that they'll always be with them in her heart. Seeing what she needed to do, Heather accepted this and ran in away while her parents distracted the druids...but they weren't so fortunate." Entei said slowly. "By the time Heather had already left Ancient Adabat, she saw that the whole town was up in flames. Deep down, she was terribly sad. But she remembered what her parents said, so she continued on towards the Hall of Dragons."

Blaze seemed to sympathize with Heather, and what she went through. "Did the druids find out about what really happened to the treasure?"

"Fortunately, no." Entei replied. "The druids were unaware about Heather Onix, but they were aware that the necklace and the Molten Flare was gone."

To herself, Blaze was relieved to hear this. "So what happened to Heather?"

"With Heather, the young woman had a long journey ahead of her. With each day and night passing, the journey began to take it's toll on Heather. Whether it rained, snowed, or anything to that affect, it would always slow Heather down. The young woman would have to find shelter each time she stopped. It became more difficult, because the journey to the Hall of Dragons was very far from Ancient Adabat. Whenever danger had found her, she would always use the Molten Flare to defend herself, no matter how tough the situation might've been. Despite all this, Heather would not give up. It was her job to get the necklace and her weapon to the Dragon Elders. It was a promise that she would keep to mother and father." Entei paused briefly before continuing. "After six long months, she had finally made it to her destination. She reached the Dragon Elders and told them of her tale. After the Dragon Elders listened to her story, they had realize that it was time to tell her that she was the Dragon Lord of Fire. Because of her brave courage and her will not to give up, they said that she would join together with seven other heroes and seal the Lord of Darkness away for good."

"Hmm...it sounds like she went through a lot." Blaze thought.

"She did." Entei looked at the purple cat. "Now that I have told you of this tale, I believe I should give you this." The legendary Pokemon reached something from behind him with his mouth, before turning back around to reveal a Dragon Stone with a red dragon's head on it. "Take it."

Blaze took this Dragon Stone and looked at it up close. "What is this?"

"It's a Dragon Stone." Entei replied. "I cannot give you all the details, but I will say that you'll need it if you want to defeat the dark one."

Blaze looked at the Dragon Stone a bit longer before grasping it in her hand. "Very well, then. Thank you."

"Now stand still, and I shall send you back." Entei said, as he began to charged up fire with his mouth. He then let out a streaming ray of fire around Blaze as it engulfed her body. As the fire spin engulfed her body, she began to magically dematerialize until she was fully gone.

When she was gone, Entei turned back up towards the sky. "Be strong, Dragon Lord of Fire. I'm sure that yo will gain the same strength as Heather did once before."

* * *

**After learning how to use a new weapon, Blaze manages to pass her trial that was set up by Entei. With only two more trial to go, how will our heroes from Rio Salaz manage to pass their trials? What wlll they learn from their necklaces? And will Blaze manage to be as strong as Heather was? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**

**

* * *

**

**Please choose the next character from below.**

**1) Larcen**

**2) Kera**


	25. King of the Sky

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Fire Emblem © Nintendo

Chapter Twenty-Five: King of the Sky

**- Unknown Location -**

The scene shifts towards a new location. From the looks of it, we could see that it looked like the Gigan Rocks. However, there were no signs of ruins or temples to be seen. But at least there were tall mountains and a brightly blue sky that had very few clouds. And the sun looked lively as usual.

As a sudden breeze passed by, we could see a bright flash of light, revealing itself to be Larcen the Hedgehog. The dark blue hedgehog landed on the ground and looked around at his surroundings.

"Where the heck am I?" Larcen asked himself. "I don't recognize this place at all."

Larcen could see that there were tons of mountains standing tall, along with the blue sky that was looking beautiful than ever. The sun was warm, and everything looked peaceful around here. It was almost as if Larcen was suddenly dreaming that this wasn't real.

"I wonder where the Guardian of Wind is suppose to be?" Larcen asked out loud. "I don't see any signs of anyone here."

For a moment, he waited for something. Anything to happen, really. But after a few minutes of waiting, Larcen was already getting impatient. But maybe that was just because he didn't like to wait all that much.

"I guess standing here isn't going ot help me find this guaridan." Larcen said. "I may as well look around and see what I can find."

As Larcen was about to start walking, he suddenly heard a sound from above him. He looked up to see where that sound came from. He then noticed something that was flying in the sky. "Oh great, this is probably a bad dream and I'm already dead. Again."

What Larcen was referring to was vulture, who liked to stalk it's prey until it was dead. Fortunately, it was not a vulture Larcen was looking at. The flying figure came flew downwards until he could get a better view at what we were seeing. It was a large hawk brown hawk, with a blue feathered head, an orange beak, orange eyes, and a necklace that was carrying an ancient relic around it's string. The feathers on it's body weren't entirely brown. Like with his head, there also some signs of blue feather on it's lower wings. And it had yellow feet with sharp talons at the end.

Larcen watched as the large hawk flew around the dark blue hedgehog for a moment. It then flew towards the ground. But then something happened that took Larcen by surprise. The hawk began to transform into what looked like a large male human with large brown wings on it's back. The newly transformed human landed on it's feet as we could get a closer look at him. He was muscular by his appearance. It had yellow eyes, a red bandanna wrapped around it's head, black hair, pointed ears, and around it wore a necklace that had a few feathers attached to the string. It was wearing a long tattered green trench-coat that looked something royal. There were several signs of white bandage tape around it's hands up to it's elbows, and there was some wrapped around his lower muscular stomach. On it's midsection, we could a black belt that was wrapped around itself, along with a scabbard on it's front. We could see a red striped robe wrapped securely under it's belt, white leather pants, and black boots with two green leather patches that looked similar to it's trench coat.

The male figure looked down at Larcen as it crossed it's arms. "Ah, you must be the Dragon Lord of Wind. Good timing. I was thinking that you wouldn't show up." The male figure said with a smirk.

"Who...are you?" Larcen asked slowly.

"I am Tibarn. King of Phoenicis." He answered. "I am also known as one of these Element Guardians those Dragon Elders keep mentioning."

"Well, at least that's some good news to hear." Larcen said to himself.

"You know, I was expecting a beorc to be a Dragon Lord. I wasn't exactly expecting someone like you, though." Tibarn pointed out.

Larcen raised an eyebrow. "What's a beorc?"

"A beorc is what we refer towards humans. However, in the world I come from, it is an insult to call someone a human. Much like myself and others as to sub-human." Tibarn answered.

"Wait..." Larcen stopped him for second. "If your not a human, then what are you?"

"I'm known as a Laguz. There are three types in my world. Beasts, birds, and dragons. We might look the same, but once we change, we don't look alike at all." Tibarn paused for a moment before continuing. "But enough about that. I take it that your here because of your trial."

"Yeah. That's it." Larcen nodded.

"Then I think you should know about your necklace, seeing as how your mother gave it to you before passing away." Tibarn said.

Larcen's eyes perked up. "Wait, how did you know?"

"The Dragon Elders see everything that goes on in your world. They must've figured that you would be a potential Dragon Lord after seeing what you've been through your early life." Tibarn answered.

"But that was out of luck on how it happened." Larcen said. "So why do I need to take some trial?"

"You probably don't realize that you haven't really seen the hidden powers of your necklace." Tibarn replied. "You might already know the basics, but the the ones hidden have still yet to be seen."

"I see..." Larcen said, thinking about what the Dragon Elder said earlier about their trials. "So what do I need to do?"

"Well..." Tibarn was trying to think up of something. "How well can you fight?"

"Good enough, if you want a straight-forward answer." Larcen replied. He then had a thought in his head. "Wait, am I suppose to fight you?"

Tibarn laughed at that statement. "No, of course not. If that was the case, then you would lose. Trust me on that." He quickly regained his composure. "But in all seriousness, you will need to tap into the powers of the wind."

"And how do I do that?" Larcen asked.

"Well, to begin with, close your eyes and concentrate on your necklace." Tibarn instructed.

Larcen did just that, as the dark blue hedgehog closed his eyes and focused his mind on his necklace. While he did this, Tibarn spoke again.

"All right. Now focus in on where the direction of wind will come from." Tibarn said.

Larcen was slowly picking up on this, as he concentrated the wind. He heard nothing for a few moments. Then suddenly, he felt a swift breeze rush pass him. "I feel it. It's coming in."

"Good." Tibarn smirked. "Just keep at it."

Larcen continued to concentrate on his necklace as the wind began to surround him like a miniature tornado. All of the wind was coming around as his necklace started to glow brightly. Suddenly, wind energy started to form around his hands until a new set of attire replaced his white-gloves. These new replacements were long brown gauntlets with a symbol of a leaf on the forehands. The wind died down as Larcen opened his eyes and saw this. "What the? What are these?"

"Those are Wind Gauntlets." Tibarn answered. "The previous Dragon Lord of Wind used it to help in his battles long ago. They'll definetly come in handy."

"I won't deny that." Larcen stated. "But how do I use them?"

Tibarn looked around as if he were trying to find something. "Look at that tree over there."

Larcen turned to see what Tibarn was talking about. What the dark blue hedgehog was seeing is a very thin but thick tree that stood straightly without it bending in either direction. It was medium sized from the looks of it. "It looks kinda old."

"That's not the point." Tibarn said. "I want you to use your new abilities on that tree."

"You mean my gauntlets?" Larcen wondered.

"Yeah. Don't worry, it'll be easy." The Hawk King reassured him. "Concentrate your energy on your gauntlets."

Doing what he said, Larcen focused his mind on the Wind Gauntlets as he stared at the tree ahead of him. A couple of moments later, his gauntlets started to glow green thanks to his necklace. As they glowed at it's brightest, Tibarn noticed the gauntlets flashing.

"All right. Now call out the words Wind Blade and thrust your arms outwards." Tibarn told him.

"Wind Blade!" Larcen shouted, as he let out a yell and thrusted his arms forwards. That's when a green glowing disk flew straight towards the tree at windy speeds. The Wind Blade cut through the tree in half, as the top half of itself started to collapse to the ground, taking it down in the process.

Tibarn inspected the work made by Larcen with his eyes. "That wasn't too bad. For your first try, anyway."

"I guess..." Larcen said slowly as he looked at his gauntlets. "You got anything better I can try this out against?"

"You mean to tell me you want a challenge?" Tibarn questioned.

"Sure. I feel like getting a little exercise, anyway." Larcen replied.

"Well, if you want to test those things in battle, then I might have one thing you can fight." Tibarn said. "In fact, I can hear it coming right now."

Larcen tried to hear what Tibarn was hearing, but he couldn't hear anything. "I don't hear anything."

But what he didn't realize was that Tibarn's ears could hear things from across the world. "Are you sure? It's coming closer."

Larcen listened carefully to hear if anything was coming. Then suddenly, he heard a sound coming from above. "Wait! I hear something. It's coming from the sky."

"Look up." Tibarn pointed out.

Larcen turned his head upwards to see a flying creature in the sky. It looked like a large green gargoyle with brown scales underneath the wings. It's had red glowing eyes, white sharp teeth, and it carried a brown scythe as it's weapon. The green gargoyle flew downwards towards Larcen with it's scythe ready to attack The dark blue hedgehog's necklace glowed as he jumped out of the way at a fast rate, just as the scythe barely missed it's target.

Larcen took a sigh of relief and saw the gargoyle fly back upwards in the air. "That was close. It almost took me off guard."

"You were lucky to avoid that." Tibarn said. "But simply dodging attacks isn't going to help you."

"I'm aware of that." Larcen nodded, as he pulled out his dagger and got into a fighting stance.

The gargoyle decided to meet the challenge as it flew towards Larcen and landed on the ground. Once they were on the ground, the gargoyle swinged it's s scythe at Larcen, as the two clashed their weapons together. The gargoyle had the advantage in weapon-size difference, but Larcen didn't care about that. Larcen and the gargoyle continued to clashed weapons with each other, without showing any signs of weakening. Larcen jumped at him with his dagger, but the gargoyle defended itself with it's weapon as he swatted Larcen away. Larcen landed on his feet as he dashed towards the gargoyle, but the ancient monster roared as he swinged his scythe at Larcen horizontally. The dark blue hedgehog quickly jumped over the blade of the weapon and quickly slashed at the torso of the gargoyle, as the creature grunted in pain.

Larcen turned around to try that again, but the gargoyle used it's tail to whack Larcen off balance and send him flying across the ground a few feet. The gargoyle made hovered a few feet in mid-air and dashed towards Larcen at a decent speed. Larcen was back on his feet and was able to see this coming in time, as he the necklace glowed again and dashed above him with a high uppercut to the face, knocking the gargoyle into a small state of haziness.

While in mid-air, Larcen's gauntlets glowed brightly as he positioned them close to the gargoyle's face.

"Wind Blade!" Larcen shouted as he released a medium-sized green energy disk towards the creature. The attack was successful as the gargoyle screamed in pain while dropping to the ground.

Larcen landed on the ground to catch his breath for a moment. But before that could happen, Tibarn spoke up, whom was not too far away from where Larcen was at.

"Are you just going to stand there? Finish it off!" Tibarn told him.

"How?" Larcen asked.

"Use your Wind Vortex." Tibarn replied. "Combine your necklace's energy with the wind energy of the gauntlets."

Thinking about what he said, Larcen concentrated on his necklace with his mind. The suddenly, his necklace glowed brightly and his gauntlets glowed bright green. When they were shining at their brightest, Larcen's eyes snapped open at his widest.

"Wind Vortex!" Larcen shouted, as a green wind symbol seal, the same one on his gauntlets, glowed brightly from beneath the gargoyle. That's when a large amount of wind energy began to consume the gargoyle while shards of wind blades began to attack him from all over it's body. As that was going on, a large green hand came from within the seal grabbed the gargoyle, and dragged it down within the seal until it was completely gone. The seal slowly disappeared and the wind died down.

Larcen took a large sigh of relief and was managing to catch it's breath after performing that spell.

"That was fantastic." Tibarn said with a smirk. "For a moment, I thought you weren't going to pull it off."

"Well, things come when you least expect it." Larcen said.

"I won't argue with that." Tibarn stated before changing his expression. "Now that you have learned your wind abilities, I might as well go ahead and tell you about the previous Dragon Lord of Wind."

"Really?" Larcen wondered. "Who was it?"

"Seeker the Hedgehog. Also known as your ancestor." Tibarn added.

Larcen was surprised to hear this. "My...ancestor?"

"He lived in a place called Ancient Square Village. Which would also be known as Station Square in your world. He was known as the Windy Assassin. He would take on any high-paying job that involved anything important." Tibarn explained.

"What did he do before that?" Larcen asked.

"There was a mercenary group that, at the time, was trying to win back it's homeland after being overrun by an enemy invasion from a different country. They were contracted by a princess whom was pleading for help after she was overturned by the enemy nation. The mercenaries accepted it and went to seek more aid from other allies that would help them in their quest." Tibarn explained.

"OK, but what about Seeker?" Larcen asked.

"On one of their missions, the leader of the mercenary group was able to recruit Seeker, whom was also trying to steal some valuable treasure. An oddly enough, one of the treasures happened to have been the Wind Necklace that you are wearing."

"My necklace? Where did he find it?" Larcen asked.

"Inside an enemy fort, I believe." Tibarn replied. "He was also looking for the leader of the mercenary group, much to the leader's surprise. Seeker told him that he had some valuable information. But he would only give it up a certain amount of gold as payment."

"How much was the payment?" Larcen wondered.

"45,000." Tibarn replied.

"That much?" Larcen asked with a raised eyebrow.

"At the time, the mercenary leader didn't have that much gold on him. So instead, Seeker decided to travel with him and wait until he got what he needed." Tibarn said.

"What was this information that Seeker was holding?" Larcen asked.

"It was about the necklaces and the Lord of Darkness. During one of their missions, Seeker was facing an unexpected enemy soldier that was riding a wyvern, which is like a dragon. Seeker and the enemy faced off in a duel to the death, and Seeker was at a huge disadvantage. To himself, he looked like he wasn't going to survive the fight alive. But a strange twist of luck happened." Tibarn answered.

"Twist of luck?" Larcen wondered what he meant by that.

"Seeker was still carrying that green necklace that he had stolen sometime back." Tibarn pointed out. "The necklace activated it's wind powers and was able to take out the enemy soldier and it's wyvern at the same time. Seeker knew about the necklace's powers beforehand, so he wasn't at all surprised it happened. But what happened after that, actually did surprise him."

"What was it?" Larcen asked.

"The Dragon Elders appeared in front of him." Tibarn answered. "They told Seeker that they were examining Seeker's movements and said that he was one of the chosen Dragon Lords. They also mentioned that he, and six other Dragon Lords, would ban together and defeat the Lord of Darkness whenever the day it would awaken itself."

"Hmm..." Larcen was taking in on all the information he was given to him. "This Seeker person sounds kinda like me, with on how I was in that tough position ten years ago. And after that, I met Marisa for the first time."

Tibarn overheard the voice change when he mentioned Marisa's name. "She sounds like an important person to you."

"She is." Larcen said as he lowered his head a little. "She's my best friend."

That's when a smirk came to Tibarn's face. "Ah, I see..."

"See what?" Larcen asked.

"Your in love with her, aren't you?" Tibarn asked with his arms crossed. "You don't have to cover it. The best friend is only a cover-up. Right?"

Larcen turned his head away in shame. "Yeah. I admit it. I love Marisa, but I really shouldn't have those feelings for her. She's a human. I'm...a hedgehog. It's called inter-species dating. No matter how you look at it, it's wrong on all sides."

Tibarn was listening to this and he had something to say on that subject. "You know, there was a law back in my world, where a beorc and a laguz were never meant to fall in love with each other. It would be called a crime against the Goddess."

"The Goddess?" Larcen wondered.

"Ashera. She was the one who watched over our world." Tibarn replied. "A relationship between a beorc and laguz has happened before. Whenever the mother was pregnant with the laguz child, the laguz parent would lose his or her power. Take for example a hawk laguz; If a hawk laguz and a beorc were to have a relationship with each other and form a child, that hawk laguz would lose it's wings as well as the ability to shift into hawk form."

"Has a relationship like that caused trouble before?" Larcen questioned.

"It has. But it's a long story, so I would rather not go into it." Tibarn replied. "I can tell you that it has been broken a few times during the centuries passing in my world because of the law that was passed down by the Goddess."

"So it's never going to happen again?" Larcen asked.

Tibarn started to chuckle before breaking out into a laugh. Larcen was confused.

"What's so funny?" The dark blue hedgehog wondered.

Tibarn calmed himself down before speaking. "That law? It was all a lie."

"A...lie?" Larcen raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. For many centuries, almost everyone in my world was living a false law." Tibarn said. "I doubt anyone's actually believing that law anymore."

Larcen was in awe. That law about where beorc and laguz not meant to be together, and paying the price for producing a child. "So, from your story, your saying that I can tell Marisa about how I really feel about her?"

"That's up to you." Tibarn replied. "I'm only here to help you harness your powers to fight against the Lord of Darkness." That's when something popped into his head. "I also have something to give you."

Larcen looked to see Tibarn pulling something out of his pocket. The Hawk King revealed his hand, as he see a green Dragon Stone head. "All of these Dragon Lords are suppose to receive one of these after completing their trials."

Larcen took the Dragon Stone from Tibarn's hand and looked at it up close with his eyes. "What are these suppose to do?"

"You'll learn it soon enough." Tibarn replied. "Now I think you should get back."

That's when a strong gust of wind surrounded Larcen until a green glow emanated from the wind and magically dematerialized until Larcen was gone.

Tibarn looked up in the sky as his arms remained crossed. "I'm sure you'll live up to your ancestor, Dragon of Wind. I don't doubt it for a second." He then shifted into his Hawk form and flew into the sky.

* * *

**As the potential Dragon Lord of Wind passes his trial, Larcen has a lot of things crossed on his mind. Will he be able to learn something from Tibarn's story? Can he tell Marisa how he really feels? And will Kera be able to pass her trial against the mysterious Guardian of Darkness? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	26. Transcending Darkness

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Soul Calibur © Namco

Chapter Twenty-Six: Transcending Darkness

**- Unknown Location -**

The scene shifts towards another unknown location. We couldn't exactly tell where we were, but we could see a large desert from below and beyond. The sun looked bright and the sky looked liked dawn, so it looked like the sun was already rising up from the sky.

As this happened, a bright light appeared, revealing it to be Kera the Hedgehog. As the purple hedgehog landed on her feet, she could immediately see the desert that below from where Kera was at. She walked towards the edge to see it up close.

"This desert looks kinda familiar." Kera said to herself. "Something like the Dusty Desert."

She then noticed that if she was seeing the desert from a high place, then where was she standing at? She looked at what she was standing at. After a moment of looking at the design, that's when a sinking feeling took over Kera, realizing on where she was at.

"This can't be...but it is. It's looks like the tower where all of us fought the Black Dragon seven months ago." Kera realized. "But how's that possible?

Kera decided to look around and see if she could confirm her suspicions about the tower she was standing on. But before she could do that, she had already found something across from her. And it made her eyes widened in surprise. "What is that?"

We zoom over here to see what Kera was looking at. We could see a new figure, with it's back turned away from Kera. But it slowly turned itself around so we could get a better look at this new figure. We could see it was wearing dark-blue armor, but it's most noticeable thing was that it's entire mid-section was missing, pure dark energy taking the place of flesh and bone. It looked more like a mutated-torso. It had glowing red eyes, the skin gnarled and black, and glowing veins running throughout the body. It had a long claw on it's right hand, and we could see it carrying a long red glowing sword that had a strange dark aura to it.

The dark figure looked over at Kera, whom was standing still as she watched the tall-in-humanoid carefully. The dark figure spoke with a demonic voice. "What is this creature I'm looking at in front of me?"

Kera narrowed her eyes at him. "My name is Kera, if that's what you were really asking me. What about you? What exactly are you suppose to be?"

"I am the Guardian of Darkness...I am known as the Azure Knight. I am Nightmare!" The inhuman creature answered fiercely.

"Nightmare..." Kera repeated slowly.

Nightmare locked his glowing red eyes at Kera, as if he were trying to study her. "Your soul...I can see your soul. It possesses a dark aura. One in which would be a worthy opponent against the Lord of Darkness."

"You mean Hellsing? What do you know about him?" Kera asked.

"Hellsing is a creature that was born out of darkness by a band of druids over 1500 years ago." Nightmare explained. "He claims souls in order for his power to grow ever stronger. Once he has awakened his true form, he will consume the world into the Netherworld. He won't stop until he has gained every living soul of the planet in his favor."

Kera was surprised to hear this. "What is this true form of his?"

"That is something that you, and the other six Dragon Lords, will have to discover yourselves once you face him in battle." Nightmare replied. "And at your current state, your power is nothing compared to him."

"Then what do I do?" Kera asked.

"It's simple: Unleash your inner darkness." Nightmare answered. "I sense that you have already tasted a part of the darkness that resides in your soul."

"Darkness...?" Kera said surprisingly. "But I don't-"

"You don't have to deny it." Nightmare interrupted her. "You want revenge against others that would harm your friends and loved ones."

Hearing this, Nightmare was right. As much as Kera hated to admit it, this has happened to her before. Like the time Black Doom killed her parents and when Hellsing momentarily killed Larcen, but was revived by the power of Silver's necklace and Viola's Sacrifice healing magic. It seemed like no matter how emotional she felt, she could never actually keep her emotions under control. She felt useless on the inside, but she knew that her friends would disagree.

"Come fight me." Nightmare said, as he got into stance with his legendary sword known as Soul Edge. "Draw your sword and I shall teach you how to unleash the darkness within your soul!"

Kera looked up at Nightmare's glowing red eyes for a moment. Her face looked determined as she pulled out her Dragon Sword and got into a fighting stance. "All right. Let's get started, then."

Kera and Nightmare started to circle each other for a few seconds until Nightmare made the first move by swinging Soul Edge vertically towards the purple hedgehog's face. Kera quickly blocked it with her Dragon Sword, as a loud metallic clang echoed throughout the air. Kera fought back by clashing her sword with Nightmare's own. The clashes they made were loud, and the two sword wielders were obviously not going to hold anything back. After moments of sword clashing, Nightmare used his claw to punch Kera in the stomach, which sent the purple hedgehog flying backwards a couple of feet. Nightmare swinged his sword down at Kera's downed body to finish it. But fortunately, Kera quickly rolled out of the way as the Soul Edge made contact with the ground.

Kera got back up on her feet and charged after Nightmare with her sword preparing to strike again. However, Nightmare defended himself just as Kera swinged her sword to strike at him. Nightmare and Kera, again, clashed swords with each other. Nightmare had a small advantage as Kera moved backwards, but Kera wasn't going to give up as she moved forwards, while Nightmare took a couple of steps back. The two made another huge clash, as the two swords tried to push each other in a test of strength.

"Can you feel it?" Nightmare asked. "The darkness within your soul wants itself to be unleashed."

"I haven't gotten angry yet." Kera told him. "I don't usually show emotion that easily."

"I see...so your are learning to control your emotions from getting out of control." Nightmare said with interest.

"The last time it happened, I wasn't able to control myself until Hellsing was gone. I'm worried that if my anger is drawn out, then I'm afraid that I might not be able to control myself from going mad again." Kera said, worried about herself.

Nightmare could somehow understand what she was saying, as he and Kera continued to test each other with the strength of their swords. "And that is why I am here to help you. Learn how to unleash the darkness within you. Do not be afraid to release your hatred and anger. Come at me with everything you got! Do not stop until you have reached your limit!"

Having enough with Nightmare's words, Kera managed to push Nightmare away with all her might. However, Nightmare only slided backwards a couple feet, but it did manage to surprise him a little. Kera jumped at him as she swinged her sword at Nightmare's torso. The Azure Knight cried out in pain as he took the damage. Kera went for it again, but Nightmare managed to stop her by kicking her in the chest area, making her fall on her back. Before Kera could get up, Nightmare quickly grabbed the purple hedgehog around the throat and lifted her in the air. Kera choked as Nightmare grasped her with his claw. After a moment of choking her, he threw her across the tower as she flew a few feet in the air before crashing head-first into the ground.

Kera was slowly getting back to her feet while catching her breath. She looked over to see Nightmare charging at her with Soul Edge preparing to strike. Thinking quickly, Kera gripped her Dragon Sword and prepared to defend herself. As Nightmare got closer, he quickly swinged Soul Edge downwards towards Kera again. But Kera was able to roll out of the way as Soul Edge slammed towards the ground. Nightmare turned to see Kera swinging her sword at him, making another cut to Nightmare's torso area. Nightmare took the affect as Kera continued to strike at the Azure's Knight's lower body parts. Nightmare was taking in the affects as he slowly fell to his knees. Kera decided to finish it off with one more blow to end it. But just as she swinged her sword, Nightmare defended himself with his weapon before shoving Kera backwards a few feet.

Nightmare got back to his feet and charged at Kera. He then swinged his sword down at the purple hedgehog, only for Kera to defend herself with her own sword. Kera and Nightmare held it like this for a few moments before pushing each other backwards a few feet. But they immediately jumped back into action as the clashed swords with each other. Each clash they made showed no signs of giving up as both Kera and Nightmare were proving themselves to see who was stronger. After clashing for a few moments, Nightmare quickly did a 360 spin when he jumped in the air and attacked Kera's face with Soul Edge, causing the female hedgehog to scream in pain while falling towards the ground.

Kera slowly got back to her feet while wiping some of the blood off the side of her face as she got back into stance. We could see the necklace starting to glowing as the determined Kera focused all her attention on Nightmare. The Azure Knight was taking notice of this.

"Yes..." Nightmare said with a menacing laugh. "Yes! The darkness inside you is coming out! Now, unleash your hidden powers and show me true darkness!"

Kera said nothing as she charged at Nightmare with her Dragon Sword at the ready. Nightmare anticipated this as he and Kera clashed swords with each other once again. And like before, they clashed with each other without end. Some moments came when they either dodged, blocked, or countered each blade strike that came at them. But either way, they were both determined to win against each other. Kera tried to sweep Nightmare off his feet, but the Azure Knight jumped to avoid her feet coming from below him. Nightmare, again, swinged his sword vertically towards Kera. Kera used her Dragon Sword to retaliate by making another hard clash with Nightmare's sword. The two, once again, tried to push each other in a test of strength. But the result came out with the two sword wielders pushing each other backwards a few feet.

Nightmare gripped Soul Edge as he charged after Kera and swinged his sword horizontally to strike Kera at her face again. Kera blocked the blow with her sword as she prepared to to strike Nightmare at his mutated torso. Nightmare saw this coming as he jumped to the side to avoid the attack. Kera turned to strike at Nightmare again, but the Azure Knight quickly grabbed Kera by the throat again and quickly slammed her to the ground. Kera cried out in pain when she felt her head connect with the hard ground. Nightmare lifted her up from the ground for a moment as Kera tried to catch her breath. But Nightmare again slammed her to the ground, causing Kera to cry out in pain again. He then lifted her up again and tossed her to the side, causing her to slide across the ground until she stopped.

Over with Kera, the purple hedgehog groaned in pain. Her hair was a mess, she had bruises on the back of her head, and the damage she took was pretty hard. But despite all this, Kera somehow managed to get back to her feet. But very slowly did she do that. Nightmare saw this, somewhat amused, but he did notice that her necklace started to glow very brightly.

"I can see it now..." Nightmare said. "When your necklace is glowing at it's brightest, your hidden powers are ready to call out to you. Now, combine that with your Dragon Sword, and you will be able to use the power of darkness to your advantage."

Kera concentrated her mind on her necklace as she closed her eyes. After a couple of moments passed, the necklace's dark energy came out and was being transferred over to the Dragon Sword. As this was going on, Kera's eyes snapped open and her eyes were glowing bright red, like Nightmare. And the dark energy around her sword surrounded itself with a dark aura. Kera got into a stance as her teeth started to grit.

"All right, Nightmare. Are we going to finish our fight?" Kera asked with a hint of a demonic voice.

Nightmare laughed evilly as he unleashed his own inner darkness, as the dark armor around him started to glow brightly. "Come at me, Dragon Lord of Darkness. Show me your true power!"

Kera wasted no time as she and Nightmare began to clash their legendary blades with each other. Each clash they made was louder than the last, as if you could hear the fighting from below. Nightmare prepared to slice at Kera's face, but the purple hedgehog was quickly enough to block the strike. She retaliated by swinging at Nightmare's mutated torso area again, but Nightmare quickly blocked it with his sword. The clashing still continued, as the two opponents glared at each other with hatred. Nightmare managed to get the upper hand by slamming Soul Edge to the ground, causing a small explosion that made Kera go flying high in the air before falling towards the ground.

But before Kera could made contact with the ground, she used her sword and aimed it towards the ground so that she would land safely without getting hurt. This attempt was successful, as Kera got back into the fight with Nightmare. Both the Dragon Sword and Soul Edge clashed with each other again repeatedly, as Kera and Nightmare continued to fight in a stalemate. Kera jumped in the air and prepared to strike at Nightmare's head. Nightmare was taken off guard by this maneuver, as the blade striked at Nightmare's neck area. Nightmare yelled in pain, seeing as how the dark aura on the Dragon Sword was taking extra damage towards Nightmare. But Kera wasn't done there, as she continued to strike at the Azure Knight. Each strike she was dealing towards Nightmare was more fierce and faster than usual. She made one hard strike at Nightmare's lower area, causing him to fall to his knees.

Kera's breathing was demonic and it was breathing pretty hard at this point. She pointed her sword at Nightmare's mutated torso area, as dark energy began to engulf itself around the blade of the Dragon Sword.

"Dark Flame Oblivion!" Kera's demonic voice shouted as she released a large blast of pure dark energy at Nightmare, causing the Azure Knight to fly high in the air for a moment. Kera watched as Nightmare began to fall towards the ground, where the Azure Knight made a loud crash towards the ground.

Kera's demonic voice began to disappear as the dark energy was being re-transferred back into Kera's necklace. The purple hedgehog fell to one knee as she took some breaths to calm herself down. "That was...really tough. But at least, I was able to control it this time."

She looked over to see that the glowing around Nightmare disappeared, as the Azure Knight very slowly made it back to it's feet. Kera was shocked to see this happen. Nightmare somehow survived the blast, despite how hard Kera fought him. She got into a fighting stance to make sure that Nightmare would strike at her again.

Nightmare took a few breaths before looking towards Kera. "Well done...you have passed your trial."

Kera was confused. "I...passed?"

"You were able to unleash the darkness within your soul. Seeing you able to control the darkness while fighting proves that you are what the previous Dragon Lord of Darkness was." Nightmare told her.

"Who...who was this Dragon Lord?" Kera asked.

"He was known as Lance Knight." Nightmare replied. "A human mercenary who took over his father's job after his death occurred over 1500 years ago."

"His father died?" Kera asked.

"I have no sympathy for humans, but if you must know, I shall tell you." Nightmare said. "One night, Lance's father was dueling an unknown soldier. The two fought, and the soldier had the advantage. The soldier was actually looking for something that Lance's father was holding. A necklace."

"A necklace?" Kera raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean the one I'm wearing?"

"Yes." Nightmare replied. "The Necklace of Darkness is what the soldier was looking for."

"How strong was this soldier that Lance's father fought?" Kera questioned.

"The soldier was not ordinary. You could say that this figure wasn't human at all. It is someone that you have encountered most recently." Nightmare told her.

"You mean, the Lord of Darkness?" Kera wondered.

"No." Nightmare replied. "The figure that fought Lance's father and killed him is the same one that killed your own parents...Black Doom."

Kera's eyes widened in shock. "Black Doom?!"

"Shocking?" Nightmare chuckled evilly. "Black Doom was searching for the necklace for his own reasons. Whether it was to awaken the Lord of Darkness or not, I do not know. Black Doom killed Lance's father, but unfortunately, he did not have the necklace on him."

"He didn't? Then who had it?" Kera asked.

"It was Lance. His father thought that it would not be a good idea to keep the necklace for himself, so instead, he gave it to his son before he went out." Nightmare explained. "The next day, Lance found his dead father's corpse and was shocked. He had lost his father, which technically meant that he would have to take over the mercenary company for his father's sake."

"But what is the deal with Lance and the Necklace of Darkness?" Kera asked.

"There was a princess whom was overturned by an enemy nation and had to flee before they could find and kill her. She went out to seek for help, when in turn, she found a mercenary company led by the new leader, Lance. She told him about her story and Lance agreed that he and his mercenary company would help her take back her lost kingdom." Nightmare answered. "He went out in search of other people that would help him out on his journey to help the princess's plea along the way."

"But what about Black Doom?" Kera asked.

"Surprisingly, Lance had encountered him during his travels. Black Doom was searching for the necklace that Lance's father was supposedly holding, but he did not have it. Instead, Lance was holding the necklace himself. When Black Doom told Lance about how he killed his father, Lance's anger and sadness took over him as the dark necklace, that was wearing around his neck at the time, and immediately jumped after Black Doom. Black Doom was caught off guard by this as Lance kept attacking him with his sword repeatedly and was about to kill him, but Black Doom managed to create a hologram of himself, causing him to disappear in the blink of an eye."

Kera's eyes darted to the ground, as she was gathering in all the information she was being told. "Did Lance ever encounter Black Doom again?"

"No, he did not. But sometime after that, the Dragon Elders appeared before him and said that they were examining him, saying that he was the potential Dragon Lord of Darkness. They also told him that he would join six other Dragon Lords to fight off the Lord of Darkness and banish him for good." Nightmare finished.

Kera felt sad for Lance, seeing as how Black Doom killed his father in order to get what he wanted. And then the same thing happened to her when her parents were killed when Black Doom was looking for the Chaos Emerald at the time. Those two events together all lead back to Black Doom. Was it just out of coincidence? Or was it out of something else?

"Kera..." Nightmare said, as he pulled out something from behind. "I have to give you this."

Kera looked at the object Nightmare was holding in his claw. It was revealed to be a black dragon stone head. "What is it?"

"This is a Dragon Stone. When a potential Dragon Lord completes their trial, they receive this to fight the Lord of Darkness in their battle." Nightmare answered.

Kera took the Dragon Stone from Nightmare as she looked at it up close. This dragon's head looked a lot like the Black Dragon from seven months ago. "How is this suppose to help me?"

"You will have to wait until all seven of you are together and you are standing tall against the Lord of Darkness." Nightmare told her. "Now, it is time for you to go back to where you came from."

Before Kera could reply, dark magic energy surrounded the purple hedgehog for a moment before it disappeared, along with Kera as well.

When she was gone, Nightmare turned towards the sun as Soul Edge was gripped tightly in his hand. "Having a little darkness in your soul is never a bad thing. Once you learn how to embrace it, you will never want to let it go." The Azure Knight said, as he laughed evilly while the dawning sun rised over the horizon.

* * *

**In order to fight the darkness, you must become one with the darkness as Kera passes her trial against the Azure Knight, Nightmare. Will she be able to control the darkness within herself in the future? Will these new abilities of the necklaces come into play when they face Hellsing? And with all our heroes passing their trials, are they ready to face the Lord of Darkness? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	27. Finishing the Mission

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Metroid © Nintendo

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Finishing the Mission

**- Hall of the Dragons -**

The scene shifts towards the Hall of the Dragons. We could see our remaining heroes waiting patiently for their friends to return from their trials that they were going through thanks to the Dragon Elders.

"How much longer do you think they'll be?" Amy asked with concern. "I really can't wait this long with Sonic gone."

"They'll be all right, Amy." Tails answered reassuringly. "We just have to give it time."

"Well, how much time?!" Amy snapped. "Sonic is afraid of water! It could take him forever to get over his fear! He might not even make it!"

"Calm down, Amy." Louise said, trying to calm the pink hedgehog down. Amy felt a little sad when the older sage calmed her down. "Listen, I know your worried about Sonic. We're worried about the others, too. But has Sonic ever let you down before?"

"Well..." Amy was trying to think up of an answer, but she couldn't. "No..."

"I'm sure Sonic and his friends will be all right. And knowing Sonic, he isn't the type of hero who would give up on conquering his greatest fear." Louise told her. "Right?"

After listening to Louise's words, she smiled. "Your right. I'm sorry I reacted like that."

"It's all right. You were only worried, is all." Louise said with a smile.

A little further away from them, we could see the Chaotix, along with Samson, Marisa, and together. They seem to be thinking about their friends too.

"How do you think Samus is doing, guys?" Charmy asked the two Chaotix members. "Is she going to be OK?! Oh...I hope she's going to be OK!"

"Calm down, Charmy!" Vector shouted before calming down. "I'm sure Samus will be fine. I mean, she is a smart woman, after all.

"I agree." Espio nodded once, as he meditated with his eyes closed.

While the Chaotix agreed that Samus was going to be fine, Marisa's head was lowered. She was thinking about how Larcen was going to do. She thought about the moment where Larcen was killed at one point, and it shocked her to death. She wondered if this trial he was going through would result in something like that. If that was true, Marisa was feeling more worried than ever now.

Kyla glanced over at Marisa's eyes and noticed her worried look. "Marisa? Are you all right?"

"Huh?" Marisa looked over at Kyla. "Oh, I'm fine. Really. It's...nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure?" Kyla asked. "Your voice sounds a little shaky."

"It's OK. I just have a sore throat, is all." Marisa lied.

"You never had a sore throat at all today." Kyla pointed out.

Marisa probably thought her gag wasn't working, so she sighed heavily. "It's Larcen. I'm afraid something bad might happen when he's taking his trial."

Kyla had a feeling that something like this was bothering Marisa. "Is it because of...what happened earlier?"

Marisa was able to keep a straight face so that she wouldn't cry. "Yeah...I just don't want to think what happens if Larcen...well..."

Kyla was trying to think up a response. "Listen, I know your worried about Larcen. But I'm sure he'll be fine." The light-blue haired female human reassured her. "Being worried about your best friend is natural, but you can't let yourself down on what happened in the past. Nothing good will come from it."

"She's right. Don't kick yourself, senorita Marisa." Samson added with a smile while puffing smoke from his new cigar. "It doesn't suit yourself."

Marisa looked over at Samson and Kyla for a moment before smiling. "Your right. I guess I was just being doubtful about myself."

"It's not your fault." Kyla said with a smile. "I always doubted myself back in the tournament. I might looked focused on the outside, but on the inside, I always feel nervous and not sure whether or not I can win against my opponent. But if you have confidence that in yourself and in your friends, then you can do almost anything."

"Yeah." Marisa nodded in agreement. "Thanks, Kyla."

As Marisa was feeling better about herself, Samson turned around to see Viola approaching him. His eyes widened in surprise. "Senorita Viola! Are you feeling OK?"

"I'm fine, Samson." Viola replied, as she looked around at her surroundings. "Where are we?"

"This the Hall of the Dragons." The black swallow replied. "We're here because some of my friends are taking some trials set up by these Dragon Elders."

Viola seemed to remember something about that. "Really? So they figured out how to defeat Hellsing?"

"Si." Samson nodded. "Now we just gotta wait for them to return."

"That's good to hear." Viola said before changing her expression. "Samson?"

"What is it, senorita Viola?" Samson wondered.

Viola seemed nervous about herself. "I noticed that when everyone found out about who I really was, you were the only one that was on my side defending me." The lorikeet looked into Samson's eyes. "Why? Why did you defend me?"

Samson, himself, was a little nervous to answer this. He lowered his hat to cover his eyes. "Well...do I have to be honest?"

"Yes." Viola nodded reluctantly. "I want to know why."

Samson kept silent, not saying anything. Viola was waiting for any kind of response from the black swallow. She leaned forward to see his eyes. But she was caught off guard, as Samson cupped Viola's hands and kissed her on the beaks. Viola's eyes snapped open in shock and surprise. She was being kissed by Samson! Viola didn't know what to make of all this. Soon, Samson let go and let Viola have some air.

"Samson...? What was that for?" Viola asked nervously.

"The reason why I defended you is because your special. Not because you have the power of Sacrifice, but because you are a wonderful woman that I have grown infatuated when I first met you. What I'm saying is that...I love you, senorita Viola." The black swallow smiled.

Viola didn't say anything for a moment. She was just too shocked by this reaction. And the fact that Samson had just confessed his love for her, too. What was she suppose to say? "...Samson?"

"Yes?" Samson raised an eyebrow.

Viola wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to say it. After taking a small breath, she spoke again. "I...I think I..."

But before she could finish on what she had to say, the shrine engulfed itself in bright light. Everyone turned their attention towards the shrine to see this. The light soon died itself down, revealing our seven heroes of Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Blaze, Larcen, Kera, and Samus Aran.

"They're back!" Tails exclaimed.

He and the others went towards the shrine as our seven heroes stepped down from the shrine and reunite with our other heroes.

"What's up, everyone?" Sonic asked with a smile. His first answer came when Amy lunged at him with a large hug.

"Oh, Sonic! I'm so glad your back!" Amy cried while hugging Sonic tightly.

The blue hedgehog was already starting to choke a little from the tightness of Amy's hug. "A-Amy, you can let go of me. I-I'm fine."

Amy eventually let go of him as Tails and Knuckles approached him.

"How did your trial go?" Tails asked.

"Did this guardian give you a hard time?" Knuckles asked.

"Guys, one at a time!" Sonic waved his hands in defense. "I'm fine, by the way."

"It's hard to believe you were able to conquer your greatest fear." Knuckles said with his arms crossed. "I'm willing to bet that this Water Guardian pushed you to your limit."

"It wasn't that big of a deal. And besides, the guardian turned out to be Michelle." Sonic replied.

"Michelle?" Louise said, overhearing the name in her head. "You mean Sailor Neptune?"

"Yeah." Sonic said with a smirk. "She helped me conquer my fears."

"That's odd...how did she get to be one of the guardians?" Amy wondered.

"It is because of us." The green-robed mystic stated. Everyone turned to see the four Dragon Elders sitting on their thrones while looking at our heroes.

"We have the ability to travel through other dimensions and locate the best warriors of each different element to be chosen as the guardians." The blue-robed mystic explained.

"As we have said before, we can only prove if you were the real descendants of the previous Dragon Lords by passing the Element Guardians tests." The red-robed mystic said.

"And seeing as all seven of you have returned, it means that you have each passed your test." The green-robed mystic notified.

That's when Shadow stopped them. "When I finished my trial, I was received this." The black hedgehog pulled out the yellow Dragon Stone head and showed it to the Dragon Elders.

Blaze looked at what was in Shadow's hand. "That's strange...I received the same thing."

"You did?" Marisa wondered.

Blaze pulled out the red Dragon Stone head from her pocket and showed it to everyone. "It's like Shadow's. Only a different color."

Sonic had a thought on his mind as he pulled out the blue Dragon Stone head from an unknown pocket of his. "Did any of you guys receive the same thing?"

Silver, Larcen, Kera, and Samus each pulled out their Dragon Stones and revealed to them. Our other heroes that were unaware of this were confused.

"What's going on? What are those things?" Charmy asked.

"Those are the Dragon Stones." The blue-robed mystic answered. "They are the key into defeating the Lord of Darkness."

"How so?" Silver asked.

"Like the other guardians have told you, you will have to wait until you face the Lord of Darkness head-on." The red-robed mystic replied.

The others weren't sure how to respond to that. How would they know how to even use these things, anyway?

"Now that all seven of you have completed your trials, it is time for you to go to the Ministry's hideout and face the Lord of Darkness." The blue-robed mystic said.

"Where is this hideout located?" Larcen asked.

"The Ministry's hideout is located at Prison Island." The green-mystic answered. "Be on your guard, though. Once you enter their hideout, they will expect your arrival."

"No worries." Sonic said with his trademark grin. "We can take them."

"If you are so confident, then go. Stop the Lord of Darkness and put a stop to him before he covers the world into the Netherworld." The blue mystic told them. Then suddenly, the four mystics began to shine brightly as the four shines of light began to float upwards until they were no longer visible.

When they were gone, everyone turned towards each other.

"Well, now we can go find Hellsing." Kera said. "But where is this South Island located?"

"Sonic and I have been there before." Tails pointed out. "I pinpoint the location on the Blue Tornado II. You guys can follow my plane and I'll lead you there."

"All right, then." Louise nodded. "Let's go."

"But what about you guys?" Amy asked the Chaotix and Samus. "How are you going to get there? You guys don't have Extreme Gear from what I remember."

"That's all right, Amy. We'll travel on Samus' ship." Vector answered with a grin.

"You have a ship?" Sonic asked.

"I do." Samus replied. "Besides, me and the Chaotix have already been there before, so we know what to expect when we get there."

"Well that settles it. Let's go kick this Lord of Darkness's butt!" Sonic smirked.

Everyone agreed to that statement as they began to head back towards the entrance of the Hall of Dragons.

* * *

**- Eggman's Base: Green Forest -**

The scene shifts towards Dr. Eggman's base in the Green Forest. Inside the control room, Dr. Eggman was busy examining something on the main computer while Decoe and Bocoe watched on.

"What are you trying to find, Dr. Eggman?" Decoe asked.

"I'm looking up information on Samus Aran. I'm trying to find something that would help me defeat her the next time we meet." Eggman answered.

"Why not use Egg Samus?" Bocoe suggested. "You designed it with the same weapons and movements as her."

"I know. But I'm afraid it might not be enough to take her down. There has to be something else that I can find as a weakness." Eggman explained as he continued to do research.

Decoe and Bocoe didn't have any idea about Samus, since they hardly know a lot about the bounty hunter. They thought that Egg Samus would be enough to take out Samus, but knowing Dr. Eggman, he usually comes up with new ideas on how to defeat Sonic.

Dr. Eggman continued looking up information on Samus Aran. After a few moments of searching, he grinned widely. "Excellent."

"What is it, Dr. Eggman?" Decoe asked.

"Did you find anything?" Bocoe wondered.

Eggman turned to his two robots assistants with that grin plastered on his face. "I believe I have found just the thing that will wipe out Samus Aran. For good."

* * *

**- Prison Island -**

The scene shifts towards Prison Island. Earlier, there was a Chaos Emerald located here inside a, now-collapsed, metal tower. Samus Aran and the Chaotix went to go and retrieve it, but were confronted by the newly discovered Space Pirates. However, our heroes were able to defeat the Space Pirates and located the Chaos Emerald. But by the time they got there, Dr. Eggman and his robot assistants were there as they introduced Eggman's latest robot creation: Egg Samus. And then, a third group crashed in from the walls that consisted of the Shredder, Saladan the Tiger, and Iriama the Shark. They were also after the Chaos Emerald our heroes had found. But then, the cybernetic ninja, now known as Sabrina, appeared as she took the Chaos Emerald and destroyed the tower in the process, sending it tumbling down into pieces.

In the sky, we could a group of flying silhouettes coming into view. There was the Blue Tornado II, Samus' ship, and some Extreme Gear boards flying in the air as they all headed towards Prison Island. It was nighttime when the group finally made it. But it was a little darker than usual. We could see that the sky had been covered in clouds, and instead of the usual black color of the sky, we could see there was a slight hint of purple clouds, as they floated over the abandoned island.

A minute later, our heroes had arrived on the island. Everyone was on ground after getting a good landing from their mode of transportation.

"Prison Island..." Sonic said as he turned to Shadow with a grin. "We had some good times here, didn't we?"

Shadow stared at the whole island with his red eyes, remembering the last time he and Sonic fought here years ago. The second time he was here was when he was trying to find memories of his past here. "Yeah...only I wouldn't say that they were 'good' times."

"I wonder where this hideout could be?" Tails wondered. "I remember checking out most of this place...back when the island never exploded, though."

Louise turned towards the Chaotix and Samus. "You guys said that you came here yesterday, right?"

"That's right." Vector nodded with a grin.

"Then can you show us where you found that metal tower?" Louise asked. "It might lead us to the Ministry's hideout."

"Sure. Follow us and we'll lead you there." Samus suggested.

As the group began to follow the bounty hunter and the Chaotix, a loud roar was heard, which made everyone stop in their tracks.

"What was that?" Larcen wondered.

Samus looked up in the sky to see where that roar came from. Her eyes narrowed. "Meta Ridley."

She was right. We zoom upwards towards the sky to see a familiar cyber-robot dragon flying above the island. For what reason, that is unknown. Everyone else looked up to see this for themselves.

Vector's eyes widened in shock. "That's Meta Ridley?!"

"Cool...!" Charmy said with a wide smile.

Espio narrowed his eyes at something peculiar. "That dragon is holding something in it's hand."

"What do you mean?" Charmy wondered.

Meta Ridley looked down at our heroes from below. It then swooped downwards towards the ground at a face pace. But then it quickly stopped itself a few feet above ground with it's wings as it let out a loud roar at our heroes. It was holding a shiny light-blue jewel in it's hand, but this wasn't an ordinary jewel. It was the last Chaos Emerald.

"Hey, that's the Chaos Emerald!" Charmy realized.

"Is this thing working for the Ministry?" Silver asked.

"No." Samus shook her head.

"How do you know that?" Blaze asked her.

"I've known Ridley a long time. Longer than and of you know of." Samus replied with seriousness as she got her arm cannon ready.

"Hold on there, Samus!" Sonic stopped her. "Why don't you let us help you take down this dragon? You don't have to take this monster on yourself."

"I appreciate the thought, but this is a battle that I need to take care of by myself." Samus told him. "The rest of you will go and search for the Ministry's hideout. Got that?"

"But-" Sonic was about to reply back, but Shadow put a gloved-hand on Sonic's shoulder.

"Let her take care of this. I'm sure she knows what she's doing." Shadow told him.

Sonic looked back towards Samus for a moment before shrugging. "All right. Just be careful."

"I know what I'm doing." Samus said, as she got her arm cannon ready and aimed it towards Meta Ridley.

"We'll fight with you, Samus." Vector said to her.

"No! I said I can do it alone." Samus said back.

"But our case isn't over yet!" Charmy shouted. "We've finally found Meta Ridley and now we got a chance for that reward!"

"What Charmy is trying to say is that we started this case together. And now we're going to finish it together." Espio told her.

Samus looked at the three members of the Chaotix for a moment before nodding her head. "All right. Let's take him down together."

When they settled on that, Louise turned her attention towards our other heroes. "Let's go. We need to find the Ministry's hideout."

Agreeing to this, our heroes **(excluding Samus and the Chaotix) **quickly made their way towards the center of the island to start searching for the Ministry's hideout. Meanwhile, we stick with Samus and the Chaotix as they locked eyes with Meta Ridley.

The cyber-robot dragon looked into Samus' eyes for another moment before making another roar while flying upwards with it's wings. Once Meta Ridley was at a good height in the air, it began to fly around the island. Our four heroes watched Meta Ridley, as it continued to fly around the island waiting for it's attack. When it was halfway across Prison Island, Meta Ridley flew towards our heroes direction as we see a few missiles flying towards the ground at high speed.

"Look out!" Vector shouted.

Thinking quickly, our heroes were able to evade the oncoming missiles as they exploded on the ground where our heroes were previously standing. Espio looked up to see Meta Ridley making a turn around after making pass-by over our heroes a moment ago. The purple chameleon pulled out a shuriken and quickly threw it at Meta Ridley. However, the cyber-robot dragon was able use it's claws to swipe the flying projectile away before it could make contact with him. Meta Ridley countered by opening it's mouth and firing plasma fire at Espio. Espio's eyes widened as he quickly jumped out of the way before the plasma beam could damage him. Seeing as how it's attack missed, Meta Ridley began to fly around the island again.

As Espio was taking a second to breath himself, Charmy hovered towards him to see if he OK.

"Espio, are you all right? That dragon almost fried you!" Charmy pointed out.

"I'm fine, Charmy." Espio said to the bee before turning to the bounty hunter. "Do you have a plan, Samus?"

"I do." Samus replied. "But first, we wait for Meta Ridley to come back towards us."

Charmy flew a little upwards to get a better view of how far Meta Ridley was from our heroes. He could see the cyber-robot dragon flying mid-way across the island. Then his eyes widened to see Meta Ridley flying straight towards Charmy's direction at high speeds. "Uh oh, I better move it!"

And just barely, too. Charmy quickly flew back downards as Meta Ridley flew straight above Charmy's position. The force of this was able to knock Charmy to the ground, though. The young bee wasn't hurt, but it did seem to shake him off some.

"You all right, Charmy?" Vector asked while looking down at him.

Charmy shook his head to get the numbness out of the way. "I'm fine, I guess."

Samus watched as Meta Ridley came back into view. She aimed her arm cannon at Meta Ridley and began firing Beam shots at the cyber-robot dragon's chest. Meta Ridley was taken back a little bit as the shots were being fired at him. Meta Ridley quickly moved to the side and released a few missiles towards Samus. The bounty hunter stopped firing as she quickly switched in her Morph Ball phase and rolled out of the way as the missiles made contact with the ground, all missing Samus as well. Samus switched back into her normal state as she turned her attention towards Meta Ridley and continued firing at him.

The Chaotix watched as Samus was fighting off Meta Ridley by herself at the moment.

"What should we do? How can we help her?" Charmy asked.

"Quiet Charmy! I'm thinking!" Vector shouted at him. "Espio, can you spot any weaknesses on that dragon?"

Espio observed the battle carefully. He was seeing Samus firing her arm cannon at Meta Ridley, in which the dragon kept dodging and firing missiles in return. He looked over to see where Samus was shooting at, only to notice that all of the shots were being fired toward it's chest area. It seem strange at first, but maybe that was Meta Ridley's weakpoint. "Vector, do you have any bubblegum on you?"

"But Espio, this isn't time to chew bubblegum right now!" Charmy shouted at him.

"I'm not asking for the bubblegum." Espio told Charmy, before turning to Vector. "Vector?"

Vector exactly knew what Espio was talking about as he grabbed out a pack of bubble gum and started to chew on it. After a moment of chewing, he started to blow a bubble. Small at first, but then it grew larger and larger until Vector stopped it at just the right moment. When he was ready, he blasted the large pink bubble towards Meta Ridley.

Samus continued firing at Meta Ridley, in which it used it's wings to defend itself from the shots. Meta Ridley returned the favor by firing a plasma beam from it's mouth and towards Samus. The bounty hunter's eyes widened for a moment, but stayed clam as she quickly jumped out of the way to avoid the firey beam so that she wouldn't get damaged. As Meta Ridley was about to go for another attack, the pink bubble that came from Vector's mouth made contact with Meta Ridley's chest core as it exploded, causing Meta Ridley to be taken back a couple feet in the air.

"All right, it worked!" Charmy said excitedly.

Samus raised an eyebrow in confusion. What was that large pink bubble and where did it come from? She turned to see Vector with a triumphant smirk on his face. "Did you do that?"

"That's right!" Vector nodded once. "Thanks to my special bubble gum, I was able to help you out there."

Samus blinked once. "Bubblegum?"

"Yep! Pretty cool, right?" Vector asked her with a smile.

Samus wasn't sure if she wanted to agree with Vector on that answer or not. But then again, she said that she had seen weirder things before, so why would she be so surprised by this?

Meta Ridley turned over towards Vector before making a loud roar at him from a distance. The green crocodile was taken back by this as he gulped nervously.

"Uh...Vector, I think you just made that thing mad!" Charmy obviously pointed out.

Before Vector even had time to react, Meta Ridley charged at the Chaotix leader at a ridiculous speed, taking him down with a large spear, and sending him flying backwards across the ground until he slid on his back to a stop.

"Vector!" Samus ran over towards him, along with Espio and Charmy to see if he was OK after surviving that dangerous tackle.

Vector, despite being hurt, was able to slowly get back to his feet. "Oh man...that really hurt."

"Calm down, Vector." Espio told him. "You're going to be all right."

"Yeah. Don't die on us now!" Charmy told him.

Samus looked back at Meta Ridley, whom was taking flight high in the air again. She could see that the Chaos Emerald was still in his hand. She wondered if he was able to use the emeralds powers to take down Vector at that kind of speed. Her eyes narrowed, thinking up of an idea.

"Samus?" Charmy looked at her with a concerned look.

Samus closed her eyes and concentrated on her mind. The light-blue necklace around her neck started to glow brightly. The aura around her body also started to glow as she charged up her arm cannon. Once the charging was at it's fullest, it started to form itself into something in front of her. A new weapon took it's place as it floated in front of her. The weapon was designed as a large blue-greyish cannon with a blue energy showing itself from the outer rims. Samus opened her eyes as she saw the weapon in front of her.

"Perfect." She said, as she grabbed the cannon with her free hand and waited for Meta Ridley to get in close range. The cyber-robot dragon turned itself around as it flew straight towards the bounty hunter as it opened up it's mouth and fired a plasma beam straight towards Samus. The bounty hunter quickly rolled out of the way to avoid the plasma beam and getting damaged at the same time.

Meta Ridley turned itself around so it could face Samus with it's eyes. But then it noticed the new weapon Samus was holding in her hands. Samus took aim at it's chest area.

"This is the end of the line, Ridley." Samus noted.

Before Meta Ridley could figure out what kind of weapon Samus had aquired, Samus fired a dark blue energy wave at Meta Ridley's chest core. The cyber-robot screamed in pain, unable to move from this mysterious wave. The wings on Meta Ridley's back started to fade away as the large dragon dropped towards the ground with a thud. Meta Ridley roared itself in pain, trying to set itself back up. But the first thing it saw was Samus pointing her arm cannon at Meta Ridley, as the weapon charged itself up until it was at full capacity. With one big blast, Samus fired a super missile at Meta Ridley's chest, making the cyber-robot dragon drop the Chaos Emerald from it's hand as it began to stagger backwards several steps. It stopped itself as Meta Ridley looked upwards towards the sky before making one loud roar, as it slowly fell on it's back. Not moving.

The blue energy cannon Samus had previously disappeared within the blue aura as she went over towards the light blue Chaos Emerald. She looked over at the fallen Meta Ridley before kneeling down and picking up the Chaos Emerald in her hand.

"You did it, Samus!" Charmy's hyper voice shouted as he buzzed into Samus into a large hug. Samus was a little taken back by this, but did return the favor by rubbing Charmy's head.

"That was most impressive." Espio complimented. "Not only did you take Meta Ridley down, but we also got the last Chaos Emerald too."

"Yeah." Samus nodded once as she looked at the Chaos Emerald in her hand before looking up at Vector. "Are you feeling OK, Vector?"

"Yeah...I'm fine." Vector said, trying to rub the pain after receiving a spear by Meta Ridley. "No problem."

"That's good to hear." Samus said with a small smile.

Charmy then remembered something. "Hey, shouldn't we rejoin the others? They might've found their hideout!"

"You're right, Charmy!" Vector agreed. "Let's go catch up with them!"

Everyone nodded as they prepared to join up with our other heroes. A couple of steps later, Samus stopped and looked back at the fallen Meta Ridley again. For some reason, she had a weird feeling stirring up inside her body. Something like uneasiness.

As the group walked, Espio glanced back at Samus, whom had stopped. "Samus? Aren't you coming?"

Samus continued to stare at the fallen dragon for a moment. Then, she turned towards Espio. "Yeah. Sorry for holding you up."

"It's no problem." Espio assured. "We can still catch up with the others pace."

The group continued to walk again as Samus stopped for a brief second. Her eyes glanced behind her, but she didn't want to worry about it now. She had a mission to do, and she wasn't going to stop until she had finished her mission. She walked with the Chaotix, as they were in search for the hidden hideout of the Ministry.

* * *

**Sometimes your greatest fear doesn't always stand down. What is this weird feeling that Samus is hiding to herself? Will she and the other heroes be able to find the hideout of the Ministry? And is Meta Ridley gone for good? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	28. Awakening True Power

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Characters © Respective Owners

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Awakening True Power

**- Prison Island -**

We cut to the rest of our heroes as they located a large round temple. From what our heroes could see, it was very dark inside with little to no light whatsoever. Samus and the Chaotix rejoined with them sometime after defeating Meta Ridley a while back.

Sonic was the first to get a look at the temple. "So this is where these guys are hiding?"

"It looks to be so." Samus replied, as she scanned the entire area of the outside. "It says that this temple was built here by a band of ancient druids long ago."

"Ancient druids?" Sonic wondered.

"It sounds like the ones that kept appearing to take your necklaces." Knuckles said.

As Larcen eyes the temple, Marisa grew a little worried for him. The dark blue hedgehog glanced over at his best friend. "Are you all right, Marisa?"

Marisa wanted to say yes, but she wasn't sure if that's what she wanted to say. But then she remembered what Kyla told her earlier, so that she would be able to put her fears behind her and keep a straight face. "I'm fine, Larcen. But what about you? Are you sure you can take on Hellsing again?"

Larcen turned back towards the temple entrance. "Yeah. Besides, he's got a lot to pay for after what he did to me. And I'm going to make sure of that."

Viola, herself, was feeling scared of coming back here. The events on what happened at Rio Salaz earlier was still fresh in her mind. Samson laid a hand on her shoulder, as the Lorikeet turned towards him. "Samson?"

"Don't worry, senoritia Viola. I'm here for you." Samson winked at her with a smile.

Seeing Samson with her, she smiled proudly and her confidence was back in control. "Thanks." She lowered her head a bit. "Samson?"

"Yes?" Samson raised an eyebrow.

"I was going to tell you this before, but I never got a chance until now." Viola answered.

Samson seemed a little concerned. "Is it another secret?"

"Yes." Viola nodded. She stared at his eyes for a moment. "Samson...I love you, too."

Samson felt happy to hear her say this. The two hugged each other warmly while Samson spoke again. "Once this is over, let's head back to Rio Salaz together. What do you say?"

"I would love that, Samson." Viola replied with a smile.

"We might not even make it back, if we don't beat Hellsing right now." Tails pointed out.

"No worries, buddy." Sonic said by putting his arm over Tails. "Once the seven of us get in there, we'll take him down and end this mess."

"I know that." Tails smiled. "That's why I know you guys will win."

"Then let's all head inside now." Silver said.

Everyone nodded to this as they began to march towards the temple. But when Marisa tried walking up the steps, a n unknown force bounced back against her as she landed on her back.

"Marisa! Are you all right?" Larcen asked, concerned.

"I-I'm fine." Marisa said, whom was a little hurt just now. "But something pushed me back when I tried to walk up the steps."

Louise did a little investigating as she slowly reached our her hand towards the steps. That's when she felt something knock back her arm. She gripped her arm after feeling the effects.

"What's wrong, Louise?" Kera asked.

"I feel that...there's some sort of barrier blocking our way." Louise answered.

"What?! Oh, come on!" Vector shouted in frustration.

"Now what do we do?" Charmy asked.

"It seems like we might have to destroy this barrier." Espio replied as he got into a fighting stance.

"No!" Louise stopped him. "If we try to harm the barrier, I'm afraid that it will do the same thing."

Amy felt like it was hopeless, seeing no way around it. That's when Shadow decided to try something as he approached the barrier. Amy looked confused when she saw Shadow approaching the temple entrance. "Shadow...?"

The black hedgehog stopped right in front of the invisible barrier. His necklace started to glow brightly as he made his way through the barrier without being knocked back by it. Everyone was surprised to see this.

"Hey, Shadow's all right!" Charmy said excitedly.

"But how's that possible? The barrier didn't affect him." Kyla said.

Shadow turned back towards the others. "It seems as if the necklaces is able to penetrate barriers. Anyone who is wearing the necklaces might be the only ones to go through the barrier."

"Are you sure it will work for our necklaces?" Sonic wondered.

"It's worth a try." Blaze replied, as she and Silver both approached the invisible barrier. Their necklaces glowed brightly, as they went through the barrier without harm to either of them.

Samus took a chance, as she approached the barrier. But before she did that, Vector stopped her.

"Wait, Samus!" The green crocodile said.

"Vector, you can't stop me." Samus told him. "I'm going."

"I know that." Vector said as he pulled out the green Chaos Emerald he was holding. "But I want you to take this. Just in case."

Samus looked down at the green Chaos Emerald as she took it with her free hand. She nodded once at Vector before heading towards the barrier. When she was close, her necklace glowed brightly as she went though it without harm tp her.

Larcen and Kera looked at each other for a moment before nodding their heads once, as they walked towards the invisible barrier. As they walked, their necklaces glowed brightly as they both went through the barrier together.

Sonic was the last one to go through, as his necklace glowed brightly and went through the barrier easily enough. He looked at the other six heroes around him. "Well, I guess we're all going together, are we?"

"But what about them?" Kera asked.

"We'll have leave them behind while we stop Hellsing ourselves." Shadow replied.

Larcen looked back to see Marisa with a sad look on her face. He didn't want to leave his best friend behind, but if he wanted to reunite with her, he would have to defeat Hellsing and end the reign of the Lord of Darkness. "Marisa!"

"Hm?" Marisa looked up at him.

"I'll be back. Trust me on that." Larcen told her with a small smile.

Marisa smiled back and nodded once. "All right. Just be careful."

"We're all depending you." Louise told them. "As long as you seven are together, you can't lose."

"Thanks for the support." Sonic replied with a thumbs up.

"Come on." Samus said to them. "We're running out of time."

"She's right." Blaze nodded. "Let's get going."

The others agreed to this, as they turned towards the temple and headed up the long stairway that would lead them to the entrance to the Ministry's hideout.

Back with our other heroes, Viola had a concerned look on her face. Samson noticed this.

"What is it, senorita Viola?" Samson asked her.

"I'm just...worried. What if they don't make it?" Viola asked him.

Samson had an idea of what Viola was getting too, and only smiled as he laid an arm on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Viola. They'll make it. We just have to believe in them."

Viola looked at him for a moment before smiling. "Your right. I'm sure they'll make it out alive and stop Hellsing before it's too late."

The two nodded heads as they looked on towards our heroes, as they walked through the darkness of the temple.

* * *

**- Ministry's Hideout -**

The scene shifts towards the main room of the Ministry hideout. We could see Iriama and Saladan standing at attention as Xuan was standing atop of the short pile of steps, with the Shredder standing next to him.

"I have just received word from my master. He says that we have company heading this way." Xuan explained.

"Company?" Iriama raised an eyebrow. "You mean, like, guests?"

"He means there are intruders heading inside the base." Saladan corrected him. "But didn't you say the entrance is blocked by a barrier to keep mere mortals from entering the temple?"

"I did." Xuan replied. "But it looks like they were able to get past here."

"How so?" Iriama wondered.

"It's a complicated matter." Xuan answered. "But now is not the time to be talking about that. From what the master told me, he said that some of those heroes are coming here to destroy us."

"Well that sounds like a problem." Saladan said. "How many of them are there?"

"Only seven. But that doesn't mean we should let our guard down." Xuan told them. "If they're here for what I think they are here for, then we have a very big problem on our hands."

"Wait a minute, mate!" Iriama interuppted him. "What are you trying to say? Are we gonna die here?"

"No. I'm only saying that these heroes are here for a very important reason." Xuan replied.

"You mean...they have them?" Saladan raised an eyebrow in concern.

"I have no doubts about that." Xuan nodded once.

"Then I shall take up arms and stop them." Saladan said, as he got his scythe ready.

"No." Xuan shook his head. "The master is expecting their arrival."

"Wait, so your saying that the master wants them to come here? Like, meeting him face to face?" Iriama asked, starting to feel nervous about all this.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Xuan answered. "And he says no one should interfere with their arrival."

"Then what are we suppose to do, then?" Saladan asked.

"He wants you to wait in the shadows. Once he has defeated these heroes, the door to the Netherworld will open, and the world will no doubt be covered in darkness." Xuan chuckled evilly.

Saladan and Iriama looked at each other for a moment. They were both wondering how all of this was going to turn out.

* * *

The scene shifts back to our seven heroes of Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Blaze, Larcen, Kera, and Samus Aran. They had just entered the main darkness of the temple. But it was a lot different than what it looked from the outside. On the inside, it looked a lot bigger than usual. Maybe it was because they hadn't what they expected to look like. It was filled with stairs leading to an impossible maze of some-sorts.

"Man, how does anyone even navigate in here?" Sonic wondered, as he looked around at his surroundings. "It's too dark in here."

"Don't tell me your already scared?" Shadow asked him with a small smirk on his face.

"No way!" Sonic shook his head. "I mean, who isn't afraid of the dark?"

No one really answered that. Sonic looked at all of the faces of our heroes. Most of them looked determined, however, Kera had a look of uneasiness.

"Hey Kera, what's wrong?" Sonic asked her.

Kera looked over at Sonic. "It's nothing." The purple hedgehog looked down at her necklace. "It's just..."

"It's your necklace, right?" Silver asked.

Kera glanced over at Silver. "Yeah. I guess I'm still trying to learn to adapt the darkness within myself. You don't have to worry about me, though. I'll be fine."

"I hope your right." Blaze said. "Now is not the time to be feeling down on yourself."

"I know." Kera nodded. "I won't let my own element hold me back."

As the group traveled forward while passing most of the stairways, Larcen eyed the place. "I wonder where we're going to find Hellsing? He could be anywhere in here."

Samus was trying to scan for anything unusual with her visor. "I'm not picking up anything that would help us find this Lord of Darkness. I'm guessing moving forward is the only way we're going to make any progress."

The group continued walking, something flashed right in front of our heroes eyes. This caused the group to cover their eyes from the brightness.

"W-what's going on?" Sonic asked a little weakly.

Shadow opened his eyes a little bit to see what was in front of him. "I-It's a doorway..."

The light began to die down as our heroes were able to see a newly made door in front of them. The door opened itself to reveal a strange aura of light, that seemed to be opening a path for our heroes.

"What do we do? Do we go through it?" Silver ask the others.

"There's only one way through. If this leads us to Hellsing, then it's about time we pay him a visit." Blaze noted, as she began to walk towards the opened door.

"Wait up, Blaze!" Silver called out, as he ran after his best friend to catch up with her.

Sonic turned to the others. "Well?"

They said nothing. Instead, they followed Silver and Blaze towards the opened door. Sonic, seeing as how he was the last one, quickly dashed towards after them. Soon, all seven of our heroes entered the door, revealing a new path of what was to come ahead.

* * *

**- Unknown Location -**

The scene opens up to a strange new location of the temple. It looked like an opening to an alternate dimension. Everything around here looked a spinning vortex.

"Where the heck are we?" Sonic asked.

"I have no idea..." Larcen replied.

Samus looked around at her new surroundings. Then she got a look at what was up ahead. "Guys, I think we have company."

Everyone looked ahead to see what Samus was seeing. Their eyes widened at what they saw.

"It's him..." Silver narrowed his eyes.

"Hellsing the Bat." Larcen replied with a hint of anger in his eyes.

We zoom over here to see Hellsing; as he was standing there with the six glowing Chaos Emeralds floating above himself. His red eyes were fixed straight at our heroes. "Welcome, Dragon Lords. I have been expecting you all."

"Hellsing! We've come here to stop you and your evil plans!" Silver shouted at him.

"...And tell me? What do you think my plans are?" Hellsing asked.

"That's simple." Sonic replied. "You were suppose to be banished by the previous seven Dragon Lords over 2500 years ago. But you've been resurrected once again and now you want to drag the entire world into darkness."

Hellsing glared at the blue hedgehog. "You are correct. My goal is to finish what I started all those years ago." He then began to pace slowly from left to right. "The souls of the Netherworld are calling out to me. Once I add their souls into my power, along with the Chaos Emeralds, your world will become the new Netherworld." He stopped pacing and looked at our heroes. "And as it's new ruler, I shall commence a new army of druids, sending them across the world and adding all the new souls into my own body, making me invincible!"

"There's just one problem with that." Kera said. "You don't have all seven Chaos Emeralds."

Hellsing glanced his eyes over at Kera. "You are correct. Right now, six Chaos Emeralds are floating above my head. But their powers are attracting to each other like magnets, which senses that you are holding the last Chaos Emerald."

"As you said, you are right." Kera said, as she pulled out her Dragon Sword. "And as long as he have that, your plans are going to have to be delayed permanently."

"I highly doubt that." Hellsing said as he raised his arms in the air.

The Chaos Emerald that Samus was keeping had risen above her head. She looked up to see this happen. As she was about to grab it back, the Chaos Emerald quickly floated towards the other six Chaos Emeralds.

"No!" Samus shouted.

"He's got all of the Chaos Emeralds." Shadow's eyes narrowed.

"Now what's going to happen?" Sonic wondered.

The Chaos Emeralds that were floating above Hellsing's head started to spin around rapidly as the black bat's arms were raising in the air.

"Shadows of the Netherworld, hear my words! Combine the energy of the Chaos Emeralds into my own, and release my true form!" Hellsing called out as a dark slash started to consume him. He then slowly began to change shape, as he began to grow larger and larger. The dark energy of the Chaos Emeralds started to consume his body, as we could soon see his true form. He was a large bat version of himself...only a few changes. His face was more deformed version of what we saw before. His palms were flashing brightly thanks to the energy that was radiating from his transformation. His eyes were dark, only with the eye-color being red. His wings were deformed and more torn up than usual. His legs were short, and his body height was considerably tall.

From below, our heroes were in awe at what they were seeing.

"Is that suppose to be Hellsing?" Larcen asked, clearly surprised to see this.

"No." Blaze replied. "He's used the Chaos Emeralds to transform into his true form."

"That is right." The demonic voice of Hellsing said. "I am now known as Zorc Hellsing: King of the Netherworld!"

"We can't just stand here. Everyone, let's attack him!" Sonic shouted.

Everyone nodded as their necklaces each started to glow. Sonic's necklace formed up another water ring around his body, Blaze had the Molten Flare bow and arrow, Larcen had the Wind Gauntlets on his hands, Shadow's eyes were sparking with electricity, Samus had the same weapon she used on Meta Ridley sometime back, Silver had the cannon on his right arm and the sword on his left arm, and Kera's eyes turned bright red as a dark aura surrounded her body.

"Water Cyclone!" Sonic shouted, as he began to spin himself around in a fast circle. Soon a water cyclone appeared as it bursted towards Zorc Hellsing.

"Phoenix Flare Blitz!" Blaze called out as she released her bowstring, letting the arrow fly as it began to consume itself in flames.

"Wind Blade!" Larcen shouted as he released a large-sized green energy glowing disk towards Zorc Hellsing.

"Chaos Lightning Spear!" After Shadow called out those words, he released a large thunder spear towards Zorc Hellsing at high speed.

Samus aimed both of her weapons at Zorc Hellsing, as she released a dark blue energy wave from her large cannon, while she released the Ice Spreader from her arm cannon.

"Celestial Seirya!" Silver called out, as he fired a large glowing sphere of light from his cannon towards the king of the Netherworld.

"Dark Flame Oblivion!" Kera's demonic voice shouted as she released a dark bane of energy from her Dragon Sword towards Zorc Hellsing.

All of the attacks collided at the same time, resulting in a large explosion. The smoke covered the visibility of Zorc Hellsing, so our heroes had no idea whether this had worked or not.

"Did we get him?" Silver asked.

The smoke soon began to clear out, revealing it to see Zorc Hellsing still standing there looking unaffected.

"What the?" Kera asked, surprised by this. "How did he survive? Our attacks should've worked!"

Zorc Hellsing began to chuckle evilly. "So, you thought the legendary weapons of old would stop me? That is where you are all mistaken. For now that the Chaos Emeralds of infused themselves with me, you will all perish within the darkness!"

Our heroes widened their eyes when Zorc Hellsing used his large hand and prepared to slam it down towards our heroes.

"Look out, everyone!" Blaze called out.

As our heroes braced themselves for the impact, an unknown magical force blocked the hand and was able to bounce it back, leaving our heroes unharmed.

"What the?" Zorc Hellsing was now surprised. "What is going on here? How come I couldn't harm you?"

Even our heroes had no idea what was going on. But then they soon saw their necklaces glowing very brightly as the seven energies began form themselves right in front of our heroes. These strong energies turned out to be the seven Element Guardians, well, in spirit form anyway.

"What? The Element Guardians?!" Zorc Hellsing shouted, obviously annoyed by their appearance.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sonic asked.

_"We knew the time would come when you were about to face Hellsing."_ Sailor Neptune replied.

_"And it is with that that we were able to save you from harm." _Omnimon added.

_"Do you still have the Dragon Stones we gave you?" _Tibarn asked.

All seven of our other heroes looked at each other for a second before they pulled out one Dragon Stone each and showed it to the Element Guardians.

"You said that we should use these in order to fight Hellsing." Samus said.

_"That is right, mortal." _Raiden replied with a small nod.

_"These seven Dragon Stones are the key in order to defeat Hellsing. And now is the time to use them." _Entei said.

_"Attach the Dragon Stones to your necklaces."_ Aqua instructed them.

_"And then focus the energies of both the necklaces and the Dragon Stones."_ Nightmare added.

"But what happens if we pull this off?" Larcen asked.

_"You'll see." _Tibarn only replied with a smirk.

_"The world rests on your shoulders."_ Sailor Neptune said. _"Stop the King of the Netherworld."_

_"And show him true fear!" _Nightmare shouted fiercely.

After finishing on what they had to say, the seven spirit energies of the Element Guardians returned to their necklaces. When they were gone, our heroes looked at each other again.

"Do you think we should do this?" Kera asked.

"If it's the only way to stop Hellsing, then we better take a chance and do what they say." Samus answered.

Our seven heroes soon attached the Dragon Stones to their necklaces. Once they did that, they closed their eyes. For a moment, nothing happened. But then, the Dragon Stones began to glow brightly as a new found of energy began to burst out from within the stones and surrounded our heroes completely as they began to grow larger in size. When they grew at their largest, the energy spirits died down and now we see a brand new look on our heroes. What was once a normal look, we could now see seven dragons taking their place.

Sonic's dragon form was a blue-colored scale dragon. He had green glowing scaly eyes, his teeth were mildly sharp, his wings were in the shape of light blue fins, as there was one below and above his head. The fins on his head resembled his spikes, his claws were dark blue, his belly was turquoise colored, and instead of feet, it was replaced by a long blue tail with a hint of red and white at the end of it.

Blaze's dragon form was a purple-red dragon with orange scaly eyes, she had three horns on her head that were shaped upwards, the belly was yellow, the scales were mixed with red and purple, the claws were dark red, her tails was sharp, and her wings were covered in flames.

Larcen's dragon form was turquoise and had green scales on his body. He had red eyes, and the scales on his body were very sharp. There was a strand of light-green hair on his head that was covered with scaly horns, his feet were short, his arms were his wings and they were also mixed with blue and green with large scales pointing out of them, and his tail was very long with a sharp horn at the end of it.

Shadow's dragon form was a black body, but was mostly seen with yellow electric markings signs all over his body. His horns were also in the shape of his spikes, he had white glowing eyes, the belly had yellow scales, his claws were white, below his wings were yellow, and his tails was short, but was sparking with electricity.

Samus' dragon form was a light blue dragon. The most noticeable thing about her dragon form was that her wings and claws were covered with icicles. She had a purple scalier belly, green eyes, two curvy horns on her head, her tails was long and had a bit of fur at the end of it.

Silver's dragon form was a very different from the others. On it's body, we could see it was covered parts of gold armor on it's head which had two large , lower body, legs, arms, tail, and parts of the edge of the wing. It's wings were rainbow covered, and it had bright white glowing eyes.

And Kera's dragon form took on the form of the Black Dragon Helios, which was what it looked like seven months ago when our heroes defeated previously.

All seven of these dragons roared over at Zorc Hellsing, who did not look amused by this.

"So, the seven dragons have come together to try and seal me again, huh?" Zorc Hellsing asked.

"Not a chance." Sonic said, despite his mouth not moving and his voice changing a little raspy. "We're going to destroy you and make sure that you don't return ever again!"

"And either way, your not going to make it out alive." Kera said with a demonic female voice, in which also her mouth didn't move, but she could still talk.

"Is that so? The nwhy don't you try?" Zorc Hellsing challenged.

Without wasting anytime, the seven dragons roared over at the King of the Netherworld before taking flight in the air and charging towards Zorc Hellsing. As the new seven Dragon Lords.

* * *

**With taking on these new forms as dragons, will they be able to stop Zorc Hellsing from consuming the world into the Netherworld? Will Hellsing be able to achieve his goal? Or will he be destroyed like our heroes promised? Find out on the epic conclusion of Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	29. Regrets Settled

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Characters © Respective Owners

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Regrets Settled

**- Unknown Location -**

Zorc Hellsing eyed all of our heroes, whom had now turned into dragons thanks to the Dragon Stones they received from the Element Guardians from their trials. The King of the Netherworld wasn't taken back by this. The seven dragons soon charged after him and prepared to to battle.

Sonic opened his mouth and fired a burst of water at Zorc Hellsing. The spray of water connected with face of Zorc Hellsing, causing the deformed monster to cover himself in defense with his energy radiated arms. His left hand started to glow yellow as he countered the attack by releasing electrical energy towards the water dragon known as Sonic. Sonic quickly flew above the attack just in time before it could damage him.

"That guy can use electricity." Sonic realized, still not moving his mouth but still able to talk. "Well, this might cause some problems for me."

"If that's the case, then I think we should even the odds." Shadow said, as he flew high in the air as the electricity marks on his body started to glow brightly. The electrical energies on his body started to transfer over towards his mouth before he unleashed a large thunder-sized cannonball at Zorc Hellsing.

Zorc Hellsing narrowed his eyes. "Foolish creature." He raised his arm in the air and released a powerful core of dark wind energy at Shadow's attack, causing it to cancel itself out before it could make contact with the King of the Netherworld.

"What the?" Shadow's eyes widened for a second. "He stopped my attack that easily?"

"I was preparing for that to happen." Zorc Hellsing replied. "For you see, in my previous battle with the Dragon Lords, I was not prepared for the onslaught that they gave me all those years ago. With the seven elements of Water, Fire, Wind, Thunder, Ice, Light, and Darkness, they sealed me away, for a time. When I was revived, I learned of a way for me to combat all seven elements in case the day would come when the new Dragon Lords would come and try to fight me again."

"Big deal." Sonic said. "We're still going to take you down."

"Such foolhardy bravery." Zorc Hellsing said with no sympathy. "It will cost you your lives."

The others ignored this as Blaze, Larcen and Samus charged after Zorc Hellsing at high speeds. Zorc Hellsing used his arms to try and swap the dragons away, but they were able to evade this. Larcen opened his jaws and used them to bite at Zorc Hellsing's left arm. The demonic monster took the effect, but he looked more annoyed than hurt. He tried to shake Larcen off of him, as Blaze used her wings and flapped them one, creating a fire storm all over Zorc Hellsing's other arm, causing him to yell in pain. Larcen finally let go of him as Samus opened her mouth and fired a ray of icy wind around Zorc Hellsing's wings, causing them to freeze in place.

As Zorc Hellsing was about to recover himself, Kera flew towards him and crashed into him at high speed, which caused the King of the Netherworld to tumble backwards on his back. The wings that were once frozen had not only disappeared, but they were also destroyed as well.

While on the ground, Kera landed on top of him and glared at him in hatred. "You caused far too much trouble for me and my friends. While I wasn't able to finish you off earlier, it looks like I'll be able to finish the job right now."

Zorc Hellsing only chuckled in amusement. "Fool...I'm not finished yet."

Before Kera could figure out what was going on, Zorc Hellsing disappeared within a bright flash, causing Kera to fly upwards before she could hit the ground.

"Where did he go?" Silver wondered.

Everyone looked around, trying to figure out where Zorc Hellsing would appear. With Silver, the white-armored dragon stopped himself in mid-air to try and figure out the whereabouts of Zorc Hellsing.

As everyone looked around, Shadow turned in one direction and his eyes widened. "Silver, behind you!"

Hearing Shadow's words, Silver turned around, but was too late when the King of the Netherworld slammed his fist into the bronze-armored white dragon, sending Silver flying backwards towards the ground, where he crashed on his side as he rolled on the ground for a moment before stopping.

"How did he disappear like that?" Sonic asked.

"Don't you know?" Zorc Hellsing questioned. "I have infused myself with the power of the Chaos Emeralds. I can use Chaos Control whenever I think I'm in danger."

Samus narrowed her eyes. "Great. Something else we have to deal with."

"I'm practically invincible. No matter what you do, I cannot be stopped!" Zorc Hellsing laughed evilly.

Larcen had just about had enough of this as he roared loudly and quickly flew after Zorc Hellsing. The demonic creature saw the green and blue dragon coming towards him and as he raised his hand out and released a core of fire energy towards Larcen. The turquoise dragon quickly flew to the side to avoid the attack and quickly formed up a tornado within his wings. The windy tornado engulfed Zorc Hellsing, but the demonic creature did not move from his spot.

"You fool. What did I just tell you?" Zorc Hellsing was once again amused. "I cannot be stopped by a mere single attack."

"Then maybe we should combine our attacks together." Larcen decided.

"Hm?" Zorc Hellsing was slightly confused.

Sonic and Samus decided to join in as Sonic blasted water from his mouth towards the tornado while Samus blew out a gust of icy breath from her mouth and combined the two attacks with Larcen's green tornado. Before Zorc Hellsing could react, the triple combination attack surrounded his entire body.

Over with Silver, he had managed to recover himself after taking that surprising blow from Zorc Hellsing thanks to the glowing energy around him. He had remembered from Omnimon that the wounds on his body would be recovered if relaxed himself for a moment. The bronze-armored white dragon took flight in the air and created a couple of orbs of white energy in his hands. Once he locked onto his target. He quickly tossed the two glowing orbs at the tornado, combining the light energy with the other attacks from our heroes. Shadow opened his mouth as he created a cannon-sized thunderball and fired it at the tornado, Blaze followed up by creating another fire storm by flapping her wings. The fire engulfed around the tornado as did the electricity made by Shadow. Kera finished off as she blew out dark fire breath from her mouth and engulfed it around the tornado.

All of the dragons watched as the energy combined tornado was taking affect around Zorc Hellsing.

"Is this going to work?" Larcen asked.

"I hope so." Blaze said, waiting for something to happen.

Moments passed and the tornado was still there. It seemed like this was going to work and Zorc Hellsing would be defeated. After another moment passed, the tornado finally started to die itself down. When it did, Zorc Hellsing had already disappeared.

"Is it over?" Silver asked, waiting for an answer. "Did we do it?"

"...It looks to be that way." Sonic thought.

At first, it looked to be the truth, but then they heard a cackling laugh coming from behind them. All seven of the dragons turned to see Zorc Hellsing, looking almost unharmed by their attacks. Zorc Hellsing's veins started to show on his arms as they glowed brightly with different colored energy.

"He survived!" Kera noticed.

"But how? Are combined attacks should've worked!" Silver exclaimed.

Zorc Hellsing let out another low laugh as he stared at our heroes. "Do I have to repeat myself? It doesn't matter whether you are the Dragon Lords or not. I have already learned of a way to combat the seven elements. I know every trick into escaping your feeble attacks."

Our heroes looked like they were already running out of options, but Shadow and Samus noticed something peculiar about Zorc Hellsing's veins that were showing on his arms.

"Do you see that?" Samus asked.

"Yeah. His veins are almost looking unnatural." Shadow replied.

"Huh?" The others turned towards them.

"You mean, his veins are the source of his power?" Sonic asked.

"But we never saw those on his arms." Blaze pointed out.

"Maybe..." Larcen had come up with a thought on his mind. "What if when we attacked him with our combined elements, the veins on his arms suddenly appeared?"

"So..." Sonic wasn't exactly where this was going. "What?"

"We attack the veins, we destroy the only source of his power." Samus confirmed.

"Do you think it will work?" Silver asked.

"It's worth a try." Kera narrowed her glowing red eyes as she stretched her wings out and took flight in the air. "Let's distract him and then take out his veins."

Seeing the only option in front of them, the seven dragons took this chance as they all roared at the heavens before flying towards Zorc Hellsing once again.

The King of the Netherworld, like before, did not look amused. "Foolish creatures. He raised his arms and unleashed two dark tornadoes at our heroes.

"Incoming tornado's!" Sonic warned.

But Larcen was in on this as he flapped his wings repeatedly, creating a tornado of his own as it collided with one of the dark tornado's. The force of these attacks caused a large windy storm to take place around the seven Dragon Lords and Zorc Hellsing.

Zorc Hellsing seemed to be more annoyed by this as he tried to sway of the attacks, but since the Dragon Lords were nearby, it was going to a little tougher than usual. As the gusty wind was passing through everyone, Larcen once again used his jaws to bite into flesh of Zorc Hellsing's veins. The demonic monster cried out in pain, which looked to be very effective. Zorc Hellsing use his other arm to released a wave of electricity at Larcen, knocking him away. But when he used that arm, Shadow was able to connect his electric-sized cannonball at the other arm. The veins on the arm started to spark on Zorc Hellsing's arm, causing him to cry out in pain again.

"Water Twister!" Sonic shouted, as he released a spinning water vortex from his mouth and blasted it at the damaged arm of Zorc Hellsing. The King of the Netherworld gripped it in pain while trying to recover from these attacks.

"Fire Storm!" Blaze shouted as she flapped her wings repeatedly, creating a much larger fire storm than ever. The firey storm managed to attack the other arm of Zorc Hellsing, causing him to cry out in louder pain thanks to the burns that he was receiving.

As he was still in pain, Samus opened her mouth and blew out an icy wind breath at the other injured arm of the demonic monster. The attack connected again as Zorc Hellsing cried out in pain once again, as his arms were almost ready to burst.

Kera glared at Zorc Hellsing in hatred before opening her mouth and blasting dark fire breath at the other arm, causing Zorc Hellsing to be taken back one step. The demonic monster was already starting to breath hard.

Seeing as how he was the last one, Silver created two orbs of glowing lights in his hands and threw each one of them at the injured arms. Both of them connected as Zorc Hellsing let out an even louder cry in pain. Not only this, but the veins also popped open, revealing the Chaos Emeralds that flew out of the body of Zorc Hellsing. The power that was once infused in Zorc Hellsing started to defuse from him and soon, he changed back into his original size of his bat form. The black bat was on the ground, still alive, but barely moving.

Hellsing slowly stood back to his feet and glared at the seven dragons that towered over him. "I...will not be defeated by these dragons again..."

"That's too bad. Because you've already lost." Sonic told him.

With that said, all seven dragons opened their mouths and combined their energies together until they were at their fullest. When they were fully charged, the large combination blast connected against Hellsing, as the dark black bat cried out in horrendous pain before slowly starting to dematerialize until he was nothing but a pile of ashes.

Once the seven dragons looked down at the pile of ashes, they roared loudly at the heavens as they started to glow brightly. Their shape started to turn back to their original size until we could see our heroes for what they truly look like.

"Now that's what I call making a grand exit." Sonic, the blue hedgehog, stated with a grin.

As Sonic made that statement, a cry of voices came from the direction in where Hellsing originally stood.

"Who's there?" Shadow called out.

_"Please help us! Please release us!"_

Our heroes wondered what those voices were. That's when something started to shine brightly, revealing a large dark magic prison where souls were being trapped here by the power of Hellsing's magic. Our heroes approached this to see it up close with their own eyes.

"Are these the souls that Hellsing trapped?" Blaze asked.

_"That is correct." _The spirit of Omnimon echoed from Silver's necklace. _"These were the souls that were consumed by Hellsing the Bat for the past 1500 years. With him gone now, you can finally release their souls so that they may rest in peace."_

"But how do I do it?" Silver asked.

_"Stand at the front of their prison and call out the full powers of the previous Dragon Lord; Aeris Prime." _Omnimon told him. _"Do it like how you did before and everyone in their prison will be released."_

Seeing no other choice, Silver closed his eyes and raised his arms forward. The psychic aura surrounded his body as his necklace also started to glow brightly. The light energy and the psychic energy combined themselves together as they began to form something in front of them. It turned out to be a spirit form of a female human. She had straight golden hair, blue eyes, a white headband, brown gloves with straps, a white dress, and long brown sandals. She was currently carrying a small shield and sword. This was Aeris Prime, or the spirit form to be exact.

The spirit of Aeris Prime stood in front of the prison of souls. There was a lock there that was fastened with dark energy. The woman raised her sword in the air, and with one swift motion, she slashed the lock, cutting it in half. The dark energy gate opened and all of the souls flew out from their prison as they each went through different directions so that they would return to their resting places so that they can finally be put to rest.

When the last souls were gone and the dark energy destroyed, Aeris Prime turned towards Silver and smiled as she closed her eyes and slowly started to disappear into magical light as it returned to Silver's necklace. The psychic energy around him disappeared and the light started to die down. The vortex that our heroes were in started to disappear until we reveal it was just another room of the temple.

"Nice job, Silver." Sonic said with a smile.

Silver turned towards Sonic and the others and smiled back. But their little moment was soon interrupted as the whole temple started to shake, catching our heroes off guard.

"W-What's going on?" Kera asked. "Is it an earthquake?"

"No." Samus said, as she kept her footing straight. "This whole temple is going to collapse on us. We need to get out of here."

"Well, let's not waste anytime then!" Sonic shouted. "Let's go!"

Agreeing to this idea, everyone turned the other way and began to take off towards the exit. The door in front of them was already open as our heroes went through it and continued onwards. But what they didn't see before was that the whole area was now covered with druids, and they looked like that they were ready to attack our heroes.

"Darn it!" Silver shouted in anger. "These druids are blocking the way!"

"We'll have to destroy them, then." Samus said, as she got her arm cannon ready and fired Beam shots at each of the druids, destroying them in the process. However, more druids took their place, with two more added to the mix.

"There are more of them?!" Sonic asked, surprised by this.

"This is bad. These druids are trying to bring us down with them." Blaze said, a little worried about their situation.

As things looked bad, there was a loud roaring sound that caught our heroes attention.

"What is that sound?" Larcen wondered.

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "It's a motorcycle."

"A motorcycle? In here?" Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Who would be driving it?"

His question was answered when something jumped out in front of them and rode it's way towards the druids, running them down before they could even have a chance to retaliate. Most of them in the front were already destroyed in a puff of smoke when the motorcycle turned around and rode towards our heroes. It was a blue motorcycle with electricity logo marks shown on the sides of the vehicle. And the one riding it was someone that took Larcen and Kera by surprise.

"Need some help, mates?" Iriama asked with his a smirk.

"Iriama?" Kera raised an eyebrow. "But I thought you were working with Hellsing."

"Well..." Iriama rubbed the back of his head. "Thing is, these druids are getting out of control because they want to take you out after you defeated Hellsing."

"What about Saladan?" Shadow questioned.

"He disappeared after the temple was starting to collapse." Iriama answered. "But I don't that's the issue right now. If we don't get out of here now, then we're all going to be bured here."

"He's right." Silver nodded. "Let's get going."

"I don't think so." Another voice said.

The others turned around to see who spoke just now. Our heroes widened their eyes. It was the Shredder, as he got into a fighting stance.

"Shredder!" Sonic, Larcen, and Kera narrowed their eyes.

"That's him?" Shadow asked.

"That's the one." Samus replied. "I've encountered him before."

"So did we." Sonic added. "Back when he crashed the dance party and took the Chaos Emerald.

Shadow narrowed his eyes at the Shredder. "So you're the one that attacked Rouge?"

"If you mean that white bat, then yes." Shredder replied. "And seeing as how you destroyed my master, I shall make sure that none of you leave here alive!"

Without a moment's haste, the Shredder lunged towards our heroes with his claws, preparing to strike at them. But before that could happen, a clashing of a blade was heard, as someone appeared right in front of the metal warrior by way of exoskeleton. It was Sabrina the Chameleon. The cybernetic-ninja from before. She was testing her blade against his claws trying to push him back. She then quickly leg-sweeped him off his feet and quickly kicked him away with a fast super-kick. When he was out of the way, she turned towards the others.

Samus was the first to recognize her. "Sabrina!"

"Who?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

Shadow was able to get a good look at her armor. "Wait a minute. Your the one who broke into GUN Headquarters and took the Chaos Emerald!"

"And you were the one that took the Chaos Emerald from that tower!" Iriama added with a hint of anger in his Australian voice.

Sabrina glanced her eyes at Shadow and Iriama. "Yes. That was me." She admitted. "And it looks like my plan was a failure all along."

"But what about your sister's death?" Samus asked. "Aren't you trying to find your family's murderer?"

Sabrina turned her eyes towards the ground. "I don't feel any more need for revenge. When you and the Chaotix confronted me about my past, I realized that my sister would not like I was. During my childhood, she always told me to forget about revenge and to go on with my life, but I did not listen back then. Perhaps I was always over-protective of my sister." Sabrina then looked back up at our heroes. "But now that I have learned this, I have nothing more to regret."

That's when a boulder crashed down on the ground near our heroes feet, almost taking them by surprise.

"It looks like we're running out of time." Sabrina realized. "All of you should leave immediately."

"But what about you?" Sonic asked her.

She turned towards the Shredder, whom was already back on his feet. She slipped on her mask and got into a stance. "I shall stop Shredder from leaving this place alive!" She replied with a cybernetic voice as she charged after Shredder with her katana.

"Sabrina!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Come on, Sonic." Silver called to him. "We have to move!"

Sonic glanced at Sabrina for a moment before turning the other way and running with the others towards the exit.

Over with the fight, Sabrina and the Shredder were evenly matched in their duel as the place around started to collapse even faster.

"Foolish chameleon! Do you think you can defeat me by yourself?!" Shredder yelled.

"I'm more dangerous than you can imagine." Sabrina replied as she disappeared within the blink of an eye.

Shredder looked around, trying to find out where Sabrina disappeared to. Sabrina appeared in mid-air as she swinged her katana around, destroying pieces of the walls and pillars of the ceiling thanks to the movements of her exoskeleton suit. She then disappeared and reappeared in front of the Shredder again as Sabrina pushed him back with each clash of her katana. As this went on, the whole ceiling started to fall from above them. Within seconds, both Shredder and Sabrina were buried under the stone rubble that collapsed on top of them. When the dust had settled, there was nothing but pure silence.

* * *

From the outside, our heroes had already left the island as they saw the last pieces of the temple had already been collapsed. Inside Samus' ship, Samus told the Chaotix about what happened while they were in there. The only one that had his face lowered was Espio. The purple chameleon, to himself, was sad. Vector and Charmy went to see if he was all right.

"Hey Espio, you OK?" Vector asked his friend.

"Yeah, are you all right?" Charmy asked as well.

"I'm fine." Espio slowly replied. He was sitting down on the control panels next to Samus. The bounty hunter saw the expression on his face and felt sorry for him.

"I'm really sorry, Espio." Samus said with a low voice. "She did what she had to in order to help us."

"I know." Espio said calmly. "She did what she thought was right. I can respect that." The purple chameleon turned back towards the collapsed temple for a moment as he closed his eyes. A strange feeling took over him because of Sabrina. Was there something about her that he liked? Or was it because of something else? Whatever it was, it seemed to have taken an affect on him to see her go like this. But at least she helped save our heroes from being collapsed under the temple. It made him happy, but still made him sad at the same time. There was still so much he wanted to ask her. But she was gone now, and Espio would never have that chance. Maybe this was her way of paying back for what she did, and maybe she wanted to rejoin with her sister in the afterlife. Whatever the reason, she was probably in a better place right now. Not living with anymore regrets.

* * *

**At the cost of victory, a price always has to be paid. And Sabrina took the fall, along with the Shredder. But with the King of the Netherworld destroyed, will our heroes go their seperate ways? Will the Chaotix be able to get their reward? And where did Saladan disappear too? Find out on the Epilogue of Lord of Darkness!**

**Please, read and review.**


	30. Epilogue: Prelude to War

******LORD OF DARKNESS**

Characters © Respective Owners

Epilogue: Prelude to War

- **Hall of the Dragons -**

The scene shifts towards the Hall of the Dragons located at the Gigan Rocks. We see the our heroes consisting of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Silver, and Blaze, as they were at the throne room in where the Dragon Elders were sitting at. There were also six of the necklaces that our heroes used to defeat Zorc Hellsing laying there where the shrine was at, along with the seven Dragon Stones our heroes received during their trials.

"So, are you sure this is the right thing?" Sonic asked the Dragon Elders.

"Since the Lord of Darkness has been destroyed, he can no longer return to the outside world." The red-robed mystic answered.

"And with him gone, the necklaces must be returned to their rightful places." The blue-robed mystic added. "We will let the Element Guardians keep watch of them so that they do not fall into the wrong hands.

"The Dragon Stones were also a part of the key into defeating the Lord of Darkness." The green-robed mystic said. "They will also be well kept."

"But what about Larcen's necklace?" Tails asked. "Shouldn't they go along with the other necklaces?"

"We have decided to let him keep it on a special occasion." The red-robed mystic replied.

"Before leaving, Larcen said that he would watch over his necklace by himself. But Tibarn, the Wind Guardian, is going to keep watch of him through the spirit of his necklace." The green-robed mystic explained.

"So basically, you are going to watch his every move?" Knuckles asked simply.

"That is exactly right." The blue-robed mystic nodded once. "But if he can survive on his own, then I don't think we will have any problems."

"Now, it is time for us to return the necklaces back to the Guardian's keep." The green-robed mystic said.

The silver-robed mystic raised it's arms in the air as the shrine lit up brightly, surrounding the necklaces and Dragon Stones. This went on for a moment as the necklaces and Dragon Stones slowly started to disappear in the mystical aura that surrounded them. Soon, the ritual was complete and the Dragon Stones and necklaces were gone.

"And now, it is time for you to leave." The red-robed mystic told them.

"With disaster averted for now, there is nothing for us to do but rest and wait until we are needed again." The blue-robed mystic said.

With that said, the four mystics glowed brightly as their visible forms disappeared while they floated towards the ceiling until they disappeared in a bright light.

When they were gone, our heroes looked around at each other.

"Well, I guess that's it." Sonic shrugged.

"What about you guys?" Tails asked Silver and Blaze.

"We're going to be returning to our own time." Blaze answered.

"And we'll do that by using that shrine." Silver said.

"Wait, you can do that?" Amy asked curiously.

Silver nodded. "We've been discussing with the Dragon Elders in private before you guys showed up. And they said that we can return to our own time using the shrine's powers.

"They made that only for us." Blaze added. "So don't try and get any ideas to visit us."

"Don't worry about that." Sonic said with a thumbs up. "Besides, I'm willing to bet that we'll see each other again."

Blaze smiled and nodded her head. "I'll be looking forward to that."

The Sonic Heroes let Silver and Blaze through as they both stepped onto the shrine. They turned to our heroes and waved at them one more time as the shinre engulfed them both with it's strong magic. The both started to disappear within the magical portal until the magic died down and they were both already gone.

When they were gone, the Sonic Heroes turned to each other until Amy latched on to his arm.

"A-Amy? What are you doing?" Sonic asked nervously.

"What do you think, Sonic?" Amy looked at him with a smile. "You and I are suppose to go on our date."

"Uh...date?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"You know, with saving the world and all, it's only fair that you and I go on a romantic date with each other in return.."

Before Sonic could have a chance to get away, Amy dragged his arm as they ran towards the Blue Tornado II that was waiting for them outside.

Tails and Knuckles looked on with confused looks on their faces.

"Are they really going out?" Tails asked.

"You can tell they are going to marry each other one day." Knuckles replied with a smirk.

"Well..." Tails rubbed the back of his head, not really sure about that.

"Come on. I want to see how this works out." Knuckles said, as he went after Sonic and Amy.

Tails sighed in hopelessness before following Knuckles towards the Tornado II.

* * *

**- G.U.N. Headquarters -**

The scene shifts towards G.U.N. Headquarters. Over at the main hallway, we could see a group of G.U.N. soldiers standing at attention as the G.U.N. Commander was being met by Iriama the Shark, whom was accompanied by Shadow, Rouge, and Omega.

"Was he also a part of the druids?" The G.U.N. Commander questioned.

"Yes." Shadow answered. "As for Saladan, I do not know where he has disappeared too."

The G.U.N. Commander glared at Iriama. "Do you know Saladan's whereabouts?"

"Honestly, mate. I don't." Iriama shook his head in reply. "He and Xuan disappeared after the temple collapsed. And as for me, I decided to ditch those guys and help those heroes out, you know?"

"Hmm..." The G.U.N. Commander closed his eyes, as if he was thinking about something.

Rouge looked at the worried face of Iriama. She then looked back up at the G.U.N. Commander. "Commander? What should we do with him?"

The G.U.N. Commander still had his eyes closed, trying to think up of something. He then suddenly opened his eyes and noticed the Sniper Rifle on his back. "Have you ever used that gun before?"

"What? Oh, you mean this?" Iriama pulled out the Sniper Rifle from his back and showed it to the G.U.N. Commander. "Well, to be honest, no I haven't. But I usually carry it with me in case good luck came to me." The blue shark sighed heavily. "The only problem is, it's only brought be nothing but bad luck."

The G.U.N. Commander remained silent for a long moment. "Then it's settled. I know how exactly to take care of you."

By the way the G.U.N. Commander said it, Iriama started to sweat nervously.

"I would like you to accept an invitation to join the G.U.N. Federations Unit. You become a member of G.U.N., help us find your former partners, and I'm willing to overlook your criminal status." The G.U.N. Commander explained. "What do you say?"

Iriama was surprised to hear this. "R-Really?"

"Commander, are you sure that's a good idea?" One of the G.U.N. soldiers asked.

"Are you questioning my methods, soldier?" The G.U.N. Commander turned his head and glanced his eyes at the soldier who asked him that question.

"N-No sir." The soldier shook his head and remained silent.

The G.U.N. Commander turned back towards Iriama. "Now, what would you like to do?"

Iriama turned back towards Shadow, trying to see if he could get any advice from him. But knowing Shadow, he did not chance his expression, as he remained silent with his arms crossed. Iriama turned back towards the G.U.N. Commander and took a deep breath. "Sir, it would be my pleasure in taking me up in your service." The shark extended his hand towards the G.U.N. Commander with a shiny grin on his face.

Smirking, the G.U.N. soldier held out his hand and shook Iriama's. "Very well. Welcome to G.U.N., Iriama. I hope that you won't disappoint us."

"You can count on me, sir." Iriama nodded.

"Do you have any objections, Shadow?" The G.U.N. Commander asked him.

"No." Shadow simply replied. "I think he would make a nice addition to the group, anyways."

Iriama was delighted to hear this. What was once bad luck that overtook him, he now struck gold. And he could only hope that it would be good news from hear on out in the future.

* * *

**- Rio Salaz -**

Over at the Western Ghost town of Rio Salaz, we move towards the Saloon, where we could see most of our heroes sitting next to each other around a table. The only ones that weren't present were Samson and Viola. And they were currently in the kitchen cooking breakfast.

"So Larcen, you were able to keep your necklace after all?" Marisa asked, smiling. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Well, I gotta thank the Dragon Elders for letting me hold on to it." The dark blue hedgehog replied. "Seeing as how it was originally my ancestor, Seeker, I intend to keep it with me and honor him and the rest of my family bloodline."

"Good for you, Larcen." Kera nodded with a smile. "As for me, I think I've had enough of dark magic for a while now."

"Was it too much for you too handle?" Kyla asked her.

"Oh yeah." Kera replied with a dry smile. "Besides, that Nightmare person I fought seemed to be obsessed with darkness. I don't even want to think about it right now."

As Kera was trying to rid of herself from that trial she had earlier, Samson and Viola came out together with two plates of pancakes, eggs, and bacon, and butter that were both being carried out by the two birds. They set them down on the table as our heroes had smiles on their faces.

"Amigos, I want to say that this is the best meal I have ever made." Samson grinned.

"You mean 'we', Samson." Viola corrected him with a smile

"Oh right, of course. Thank you for reminded me, my love." Samson nodded at her.

"No worries about it." Viola replied, as she leaned in and kissed Samson on the cheek.

"Thank you, you two." Louise complimented. "Why don't you join us?"

"But, of course." Samson nodded once as he and Viola both sat down together with our heroes.

"Guys..." Viola lowered her eyes. "I just want to say thank you. Thank you for letting me stay here with you. If you hadn't, then...I don't know how Samson would feel without me. And I don't know how I would feel without Samson, either."

Everyone noticed Viola's expression when she mentioned Samson. But being friendly, they decided to cheer her up.

"It's all right, Viola." Louise smiled. "You don't have to worry about the past. It's over and now you can move on. You don't have anything to be sad about."

The rainbow Lorikeet looked up at the older sage. "Do you mean it?"

"I do." Louise nodded in reply. "We're happy to have to here. Right?"

Marisa, Kera, and Kyla nodded with heads, while Larcen only nodded once.

Viola smiled at their reactions. "Thank you again." I'm really happy to hear this."

"Uh amigos, if we're done talking, I think we should chow down on this stuff before it turns cold." Samson suggested. "Besides, I'm starting to get hungry."

"Right." Marisa nodded. "Let's dig in!"

* * *

**- Chaotix Detective Agency -**

Meanwhile at the Chaotix Detective Agency, the Chaotix had received their reward after getting a picture of the evidence to the news reporters. They received a recognition on Station Square TV News and received $10,000 as well.

Outside of the detective agency, the Chaotix and Samus stood across from each other, with Samus standing near her ship. It looked like she was going to leave.

"Are you sure you want to leave?" Vector asked. "We can share the reward with you."

"No thanks." Samus shook her head. "I'll be fine. And besides, now that my job here is done, I have to be going."

"Well...it's been an honor with you working with us. You've helped us so much, so I have something to give you." Vector nodded at her, as he pulled out something from an unknown pocket of his. It looked like a badge with the Chaotix logo on it. "Samus Aran. I here by officially name you as an honorary member of the Chaotix!"

Samus was a little surprised to hear this. "Me? A member of you guys?"

"That's right!" Vector nodded. "What do you say? Do you accept?"

Samus looked at the badge Vector was holding for a moment. She held out her hand and took the badge from him, as if accepting Vector's token of appreciation. "Thank you. I am honored."

Charmy flew closer towards Samus until she was a few feet away from her. It looked like he had a sad look on his face. "I'm sorry that you have to go. I really am going to miss you."

Samus noticed his sad expression. For once, she didn't want him to feel sad. "I'll remember you, Charmy. You were very helpful and I want to thank you for that."

Then shockingly, Samus leaned in and pressed a kiss on Charmy's cheek. Charmy's face turned deep red as his eyes turned into hearts while he flew back towards his teammates. Espio was confused for a moment, but he shrugged it off, paying it no mind. While Charmy was in a daze, Espio approached Samus extended his hand towards her.

"Thank you, Samus Aran." The purple chameleon complimented. "Like Vector said, it was an honor working with you. We hope to see you again someday."

"I'll be looking forward to that day. In fact, I have an idea." Samus pulled out something from behind her and handed it to Espio. "This is my communicator. If you guys are ever in a dire position, you can call on me. No matter what, I will fly to your aid. And in this way, we can still keep in touch."

Espio took the communicator from Samus and accepted her gift. "Thank you. We'll call you if anything important comes up."

"All right, then." Samus said, as she put her helmet back on her head and jumped on her ship. "See you later."

"Thanks again, Samus!" Vector waved at her.

"Come back soon!" Charmy called out loudly.

"Take care of yourself." Espio added.

Samus was transported inside her ship as the booster rockets on her ship began to change positions, as did her ship. When it made a 180 turn, Samus' ship boosted towards the sky, while the Chaotix from below just watched her go.

"I'm really gonna miss her." Charmy sighed in depression.

"Yeah. Despite our first rough meeting, I'm glad she was able to be friends with us." Vector said.

"Vector? What do you think we should do with our reward?" Espio asked him.

"Hmm...you know, I've never actually thought about it." Vector hummed in thought for a moment. "Well, I was thinking giving our place a small makeover."

"Yeah! And video games! You can never go wrong with video games!" Charmy added.

"I guess I'll use some of the money to buy some new Chakrams." Espio thought.

"Well, that settles it! Boys, it's time to do some shopping!" Vector exclaimed with a grin.

As Charmy and Vector went back inside, Espio looked up at the sky for a moment, thinking about Sabrina. He never actually got a chance to actually thank her, but maybe this is what she wanted. Espio smiled as he headed back inside to rejoin with his friends.

* * *

**- Prison Island -**

The scene shifts towards Prison Island. We move towards the fallen Meta Ridley, whom was defeated at the hands of the Chaotix and Samus Aran. It looked lifeless for a moment, but then it's yellow eyes snapped open. It shifted around back towards it's feet as he looked around at his surroundings.

"It seems that you still look to be in good shape, my friend." A voice said.

Meta Ridley turned around to see Dr. Eggman standing there with his arms behind his back. Decoe and Bocoe were also with him, looking a little nervous around Meta Ridley. Egg Samus was also with them, standing at attention.

"Dr. Eggman, are you sure this is a good idea?" Decoe asked.

"That dragon doesn't look friendly, to me." Bocoe added.

"Be quite, you two." Eggman ordered. "I know what I'm doing."

Decoe and Bocoe only watched on as Eggman approached the cyber-dragon. Meta Ridley looked like he was ready to attack until Eggman spoke to him.

"Are you the one known as Meta Ridley? Leader of the Space Pirates?" Eggman asked.

Meta Ridley stood in silence for a moment before it lowered it's claws down so it would let the round scientist speak.

"By your standings, it looks like my intelligence is correct. And I noticed that you have a grudge against Samus Aran, am I right?"

Meta Ridley mechanically growled in anger when he heard Samus' name.

"It looks like I'm right again." Eggman stated. "I also have had a grudge against that woman as well. For when she attacked my base, she destroyed a lot of my beloved robots and took my Chaos Emerald to top it all off. I have wanted revenge against her, but every time I tried that, someone always comes barging in and ruining my plans. Much like the Chaotix, for example. Or that tin-head known as Shredder."

Meta Ridley said nothing as it continued to glare at Eggman. The scientific genius noticed Meta Ridley's wings.

"I've seen that your wings have been destroyed. And for that, you cannot fly. I'm guessing this was the work of your arch-rival, as well." Eggman said. "It looks like you and I have a lot in common. Like you with Samus, I also have a nemesis known as Sonic the Hedgehog. He always foils my plans and destroys my beloved creations. His friends also get in the way, as well. Whatever I do, my dream of creating Eggmanland will never come to fruition. But..." Eggman looked into Meta Ridley's eyes. "With you at my side, we can both get what we want. We can get revenge on both of our foes at the same time."

Meta Ridley watched as Eggman extended his hand towards the creature.

"Join me, and together, Eggmanland will finally be built and the whole world will be ruled by robots. And Space Pirates." He added. "What do you say?"

Meta Ridley looked down at Eggman's gloved hand. For a moment, he wasn't sure if Eggman was lying to him or not. But judging from his composure, Eggman was being really honest with him. So he lifted one of his claws towards Eggman's hand and shook on it.

Eggman grinned widely at this moment. "Excellent. Now nothing will be able to stop us."

* * *

Over at the ruined temple, we could see the whole place was torn down after the defeat of Hellsing the Bat. Our heroes were able to escape the grasps of the Shredder thanks to Sabrina. We move closer towards the crashed site to get a closer look at the site.

Then suddenly, a metallic arm popped out from the ruined stones. We could see the claws on the metallic claw as most of the other rubble was being tossed out of the way. And the one who removed it was the surviving Shredder. The metallic warrior got back to his feet as he looked around at the ruined temple that surrounded him.

"Those heroes were able to escape, and Hellsing has been destroyed." Shredder stated. "No matter. It means nothing to me. No one knows that I am still alive, so that means I am finally free of the service of those pathetic druids."

The Shredder moved away from the rubble until he was standing on solid ground. "It is time to begin again. And new world order shall commence, as it's one true ruler. The Shredder will rise again and I shall rule the world!"

With those words shouted, the Shredder let out a loud evil laugh. Almost like an echo that would be heard from across the world.

* * *

**- Unknown Location -**

The final scene shifts towards to an unknown location. It looked like they were inside a dark isolated place that no one ever looked to visit. Or even discover for that matter.

Over here, we could see Xuan Iakuda walking towards a medium-sized pillar before kneeling down on one knee. "Master, I have come bearing news."

"Go on." The voice told him. "I'm listening."

"Hellsing has been destroyed thanks to the heroes. Saladan has also disappeared, too. And Iriama has betrayed us." Xuan explained.

"Where is Saladan?" The mysterious voice asked.

"I do not know." Xuan replied. "He probably escaped when the temple started to collapse."

"I see...no matter. He will be of no use to us, anyway." The voice simply said.

"How come the preparations?" Xuan questioned.

"Patience. Soon, all the pieces will come together." The voice answered. "For now, we wait and watch until the time is right."

"Very well, master. I shall beg your leave." Xuan bowed, as he quietly slipped away from view.

We move towards the top of the pillar to reveal the mysterious figure, revealing it to be Mephiles the Dark. "I, Mephiles, shall get my revenge against the world and everyone shall learn true fear. And I haven't forgotten about her, either. I promise you, Louise Harmon...you will die by my hands!" With that, Mephiles let out a terrifying evil laugh that echoed across the entire area.

**THE END!**

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**Another adventure ends, but another one will soon open. Until then, stay tuned for the Gale Series and Dawn, Darkness, and War.**

**Please, read and review.**


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